Farmers and agricultural groups picket in front of the Department of Finance in Manila on September 26, 2023. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — Farmers groups filed a petition for certiorari with a prayer for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order at the Supreme Court against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Tariff Commission Chairperson Marilou Mendoza.

The farmers are questioning the constitutionality of Marcos' Executive Order No. 62 which reduces the tariff on rice imports from 35 percent to 15 percent. 

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“This Executive Order was hastily issued sans the consultation, investigation, hearings, reports ---- which are required by the Flexible Clause of Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (RA 10863) to be complied with before the President can validly make issuance of an Executive Order involving tariff reduction,” the groups said in their petition.

Among the farmer's groups that filed the petition are Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura or SINAG, Federation of Free Farmers, United Broiler Raisers Association, Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative, and Magsasaka Partylist 

Aside from due process, the EO also allegedly violated the constitutional mandate of government officials to protect farmers from unfair competition and trade practices and to develop a self-reliant and independent national economy controlled by Filipinos, they said. 

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“Kahit pa nga nagkaroon ng investigation, this violates yung constitutional policy to make our country self-reliant and independent and protecting our farmers from unfair competition, kasi this is a total sell-out sa ating mga magsasaka, ibinigay mo na ang buong pagkain natin, iniasa mo na sa mga imported, mali iyon,” said SINAG legal counsel Virgie Suarez. 

The petitioners asked the high court to declare the President’s order null and void and to issue the TRO to restrain the effectivity and implementation of the order. 

The group expects that because of the EO, farmers will no longer plant rice on some 500,000 hectares of land because of the expected flood of imported rice.

“Before the EO was issued, the projection was about 4.2 million metric tons of rice, with this new EO, 4.6 million, hindi ba baha iyon?” former agriculture secretary Leonardo Montemayor said. 

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The petitioners also claimed that even with the deluge of rice imports, prices of rice for the consuming public are not expected to go down. 

“Ngayon harvest ng Thailand and Vietnam, dapat bumaba na ang presyo, in which, nung narinig nila ang pagbaba ng taripa hindi na nila ibinababa ang presyo, so ibig sabihin iyong presyo ng daigdigang merkado hindi na bababa,” said So.

"Ang ikinakatakot natin baka naman mag-increase na naman ang suicide rates ng mga magsasaka so ito po iyong dahilan kaya nandito kami sa Supreme Court para mapigilan itong EO 62 dahil hindi ho bababa ang presyo ng bigas, bababa ang presyo ng palay hindi makikinabang ang mga consumers, malulugi ang mga magsasaka,” said Magsasaka Partylist President Argel Joseph Cabatbat.

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