Farmers to ask high court to halt EO 62

FARMERS’ groups will file a petition for temporary restraining order (TRO) before the Supreme Court to prevent the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 62, which reduced tariffs on key agricultural commodities, including rice.

Virginia Lacsa Suarez, legal counsel of the broad agriculture sector coalition Sinag, cited the “unreasonable” reduction in tariffs and the absence of consultation and public hearing that should have been conducted by the Tariff Commission (TC) as grounds for filing the petition.

“We do not even know the recommendation made by the National Economic and Development Authority [Neda], then suddenly there is this EO 62,” Suarez said in a mix of English and Filipino during a press briefing over the weekend.

“So this is surprising to us. Why the rush? What is at stake here is the livelihood of Filipino farmers,” she added.

Suarez also noted that groups are under time constraint because EO 62 specifies that the tariff for rice will be slashed to 15 percent 15 days after the order is published in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

“But we will do everything to prevent the implementation of EO 62,” Suarez said.

The groups plan to file the petition from prohibition with prayer for a TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction before the High Court within the week.

She also said they would talk to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and urge the administration to rescind the EO.

“We should be helping Filipino farmers, but in reducing the rice tariff, we are bailing out the planters of other countries,” she added.

The groups also said they plan to file a separate case to the Ombudsman against the Neda and the members of the Tariff Commission. 

“They failed to do their duty and they even violated the law because they did not consult farmers and did not conduct public hearings,” Suarez said.

Republic Act (RA) 10863 or Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) mandated the TC to conduct an investigation and hold public hearings wherein “interested parties shall be afforded reasonable opportunity to be present, to produce evidence and to be heard” before any recommendation is submitted to the President by the Neda.

Hog raisers anxious

Meanwhile, National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NatFed) Vice Chairman Alfred Ng said a number of backyard raisers are already thinking of quitting hog raising.

“Many producers, especially backyard farmers, cannot continue if they do not have the support of government and if tariffs on pork imports would remain low,” Ng said.

“Only a few brave souls tried to venture into hog raising again but the backyard farmers have no capital. They are waiting for the government to come up with a solution to their predicament,” he added.

Ng also said pork imports for this year will likely surpass the previous year’s volume of nearly 600,000 metric tons (MT).

Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that pork imports as of April 30 rose by 17.99 percent to 193,146 MT from the 163,690 MT recorded in the same period last year.