Farmer organizations appealed to President Ferdinand R. Raised questions about two Executive Orders (EOs) signed by Marcos, Jr. that are promulgated to increase rural incomes and promote food security.
EO No. 100 will set a yet-to-be determined regional minimum price for palay (unmilled rice), while EO No. 101 directs all government agencies, state universities and local governments to purchase food directly from accredited farms and fiSherfolk Cooperative Societies.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) criticized EO No. 101 for focusing too much on procurement, saying via Viber that “procurement does not guarantee food sufficiency or fair prices for main crops.”
“Farmers don't just need buyers for their produce. They first need the means to produce – control over land, capital, equipment, insurance, security. This order fails to provide them,” KMP President Danilo Ramos said in the statement.
KMP recommended that the government focus its attention on strengthening farmer cooperatives, make it a government mission to achieve food self-sufficiency and offer interest-free loans, production subsidies and loan waivers.
Leonardo Montemayor, president of the Federation of Free Farmers, said through messenger that the impact of EO No. 100 will be visible from next year itself.
“Most crops have already been harvested, meaning the impact will be felt as early as February 2026.”
He said the floor price mandate is confusing because it applies only to national agencies and local government units, whose purchasing power is not enough to convince traders to raise nominal prices.
Mr. Montemayor said since most LGUs do not have funds to buy directly from farmers, the EO would be rendered useless if the National Food Authority (NFA) remains the main buyer and sets its own prices.
Amihan Secretary General Cathy Estavillo said via Viber that EO No. 100 fails to address the problems caused by the rice tariffication law, which she said allows traders to import excessive amounts of the grain.
Ms. Estavillo said the Rice Tariffication Act should be repealed if rice prices are to rise. , Andre Christopher H. Alampay
