DECEMBER 29, 2025 — The Department of Agriculture (DA) confirmed that imported rice will remain capped at ₱43 per kilo for now, even as the government prepares to raise tariffs on shipments entering the country.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. explained that the current duty of 15 percent keeps the suggested retail price unchanged. 

“The January MSRP will stay at P43 because the duty is still 15 percent,” he said. 

Adjustments, he added, will only follow once the higher tariff takes effect.

Starting January 16, 2025, rice imports will face a 20 percent duty, a move intended to stabilize the market and protect local farmers. 

“We have to complete the process before raising the tariff,” Tiu Laurel noted.

The policy shift comes after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a four-month freeze on rice importation beginning September 2025. The moratorium was designed to shield farmgate prices during the wet-season harvest. Before the ban, imports had surged to 4.8 million metric tons in 2024, pulling palay prices down to as low as ₱8 per kilo in some provinces.

Since the suspension, palay values have rebounded — wet palay now sells at around ₱17 per kilo, while dry palay fetches about ₱23 in several producing regions. The DA said tighter import controls, especially during peak harvest, will help millers and traders sustain these gains.

Once the ban lapses on December 31, the government will allow the entry of 500,000 metric tons of rice, with 50,000 metric tons earmarked for Food Terminals Inc. The National Food Authority, meanwhile, plans to buy wet palay at ₱17 and dry palay at ₱21 per kilo during the March harvest, expecting private traders to bid higher under the new tariff regime.

How will these measures affect ordinary consumers? Will the price ceiling truly shield households from rising costs, or will tariffs push retail prices upward despite government controls? 

These uncertainties are likely to fuel discourse across the country, where rice prices are a perennial flashpoint for public frustration. The fate of rice —our staple food — hangs not only on tariffs and imports but on whether policies can balance farmers’ survival with consumers’ daily burden.

After all, in our country, “rice is life” indeed.

(Image: Philippine News Agency)