The revised Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) is no gift. It is a death sentence for the millions of farmers who toil daily to sustain the country’s food supply. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) strongly denounces the amendments to the RTL as another betrayal of Filipino rice farmers. The amended law which took effect last December 25 was regarded by Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr.’s as a “Christmas gift” insults the struggles of farmers grappling with poverty and neglect under this administration.

Under Republic Act 12078, the tripling of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to Php30 billion annually and its extension until 2031 is a smokescreen for the government’s continued failure to address the root cause of farmers’ woes: relentless importation of rice and unsupported local rice production. The past five years under RA 11203 and RCEF’s promises of modernization and mechanization did not uplift the local rice industry. RA 12078 will only benefit big traders and machinery suppliers rather than directly uplifting rice farmers.

KMP also reminded DA to stop its obsession with rice importation. The agency will convene tomorrow to discuss food security emergency. “The government’s reliance on importation remains evident in the revised RTL. By granting the agriculture secretary authority to declare a “national food security emergency” and facilitating emergency rice imports, the administration cements its dependence on foreign rice instead of bolstering local production. This policy contradicts claims of strengthening the Philippine rice industry, as it undermines local farmers by flooding the market with imported rice, further driving down palay farmgate prices, and perpetuating landlessness and indebtedness.”

The Marcos administration’s focus on RCEF’s allocation—Php6 billion for seeds, Php9 billion for mechanization, and Php15 billion for training and infrastructure—ignores the immediate and pressing need for direct production subsidies. Farmers need access to affordable inputs like fertilizer and fuel, debt relief, and guaranteed procurement of their harvest at fair prices. Instead, the government is funneling billions into programs that often fail to reach those most in need due to bureaucratic inefficiencies and corruption.

The amendments also reduce the National Food Authority’s (NFA) mandate, limiting its role to emergency buffer stocking while cutting the reserve period from three months to two. “This not only jeopardizes food security but also sidelines the NFA’s critical function of stabilizing rice prices and ensuring a steady market for farmers’ produce. The Marcos Jr. administration’s much-touted Rice-for-All is another empty promise, as it prioritizes optics over substantive support for both farmers and consumers.”

The KMP reiterates its call for genuine agrarian reform and a pro-farmer agricultural policies. We demand the immediate repeal of the Rice Tariffication Law and the reallocation of funds toward comprehensive production subsidies and compensation for farmers. Filipino rice farmers are more than capable of feeding the nation if provided with adequate support, fair prices, and protection from unfair trade practices.

KMP stands firm in opposing neoliberal policies that prioritize corporate profit over farmers’ livelihoods and food security.