A total of 26 agriculture groups have called out President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno, and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan over their positions on the controversial tariff reduction.

According to SINAG chair Rosendo So, other industries in the pig, chicken, corn, and allied sectors, such as Aqua Farmers PH and the Egg Council of the Philippines, have also joined their crusade.

They strongly oppose Diokno and Balisacan’s tariff proposal not only on rice but also on pork, chicken, and corn.

He added that there is no reason to reduce or remove the tariff on rice as the local rice harvest is ongoing.

The SINAG leader warned that P33.5 billion will be lost in the rice industry by the time the country reaches the estimated P3.9 million metric tons of rice imports next year.

Meanwhile, due to the tariff cut on pork, the country’s lost revenue is approximately P16 to P18 billion, while the tariff cut on chicken would be P6 to P8 billion.