The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) asked the government to increase support for farmers affected by Tropical Cyclones Luis, Maymay, and Neneng, as well as the enhanced southwest monsoon (habagat).

The appeal renews a recurring argument in Philippine farm policy. The country sits in the Pacific typhoon belt and is visited by an average of about 20 tropical cyclones each year, and every major storm raises the same question of whether resulting shortages should be met with imports or with support for local producers.

SINAG Executive Director Jayson H. Cainglet proposed support to help affected farmers replant and recover, including the immediate distribution of seed and fingerlings, fertilizer, and other inputs essential for production.

“Many crops can be replanted and harvested within a relatively short period,” Mr. Cainglet said in a statement.

“For affected farmers, the difference between recovery and another season of losses may simply be immediate and easy access to seed, fertilizer, credit, production assistance and a guaranteed market,” he added.

Mr. Cainglet said temporary disruptions to supply and logistics should not be used to justify increased imports, which should not be the first resort in the event of shortages caused by weather disturbances.

He asked the government to adopt a non-negotiable “local production first” policy during agricultural supply disruptions. He also called for a structural shift toward a production-first strategy, arguing that increased imports during the peak of the harvest add to supply and push farmgate prices lower.

The Philippines is among the world’s largest rice importers, and the tension between opening the market and protecting local growers has persisted since the 2019 Rice Tariffication Law (Republic Act No. 11203) replaced import quotas with tariffs, a shift farmer groups such as SINAG have blamed for weakening palay farmgate prices.

“When our farmers suffer production losses, the appropriate policy response should first be to restore their capacity to produce — not replace their production with imports,” Mr. Cainglet said.

“The current weather-related disruption should be treated as an opportunity to strengthen — not weaken — Philippine agriculture,” he added.

Mr. Cainglet noted that retail prices have increased 300% while farmgate prices remain low, saying “the government must immediately intervene and cut the excessive margins, market concentration, hoarding, speculative trading and other practices that are evidenced to this disconnect.”

The gap between what farmers receive and what consumers pay has repeatedly drawn legislative scrutiny, with congressional inquiries in recent years examining alleged smuggling, hoarding, and cartel-like practices in the rice supply chain.

He also highlighted the Sagip Saka Act (Republic Act No. 11321), which requires government procurement to prioritize direct purchases from accredited farmers, cooperatives, and producer organizations instead of relying on intermediaries and imported goods.

“Directly procuring from farmers will provide immediate assistance to affected marginal producers, backyard raisers and small fish farmers while supplying government programs with locally produced food,” Mr. Cainglet said.

Agricultural damage caused by the three storms and the monsoon was estimated at P1.79 billion, with 51,229 farmers affected, 41,647 hectares of farmland damaged, and 44,745 metric tons of production lost, according to the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center, based on data available on Saturday.

The DA has said it will provide P210.93 million worth of farm inputs to affected farmers, including rice, corn, and vegetable seed, as well as 3,631 bags of palay (unmilled rice) from the National Food Authority to affected local government units. Under the rice tariffication regime, the National Food Authority’s role has been limited to maintaining buffer stocks largely through local palay purchases, with rice importation left to private traders. — Marron Joshua F. Mendoza