FARMER organizations raised questions about two executive orders (EO) signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., which are touted to raise increase rural incomes and boost food security.
EO No. 100 will set a yet-to-be-determined regional floor price for palay (unmilled rice) while EO No. 101 directs all government agencies, state universities, and local governments to purchase food directly from accredited farm and fisherfolk cooperatives.
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 pricing for staple crops.”
“Farmers do not just need a buyer for their produce. They need the means to produce in the first place — control over the land, capital, equipment, insurance, protection. This order fails to provide those,” KMP Chairman Danilo Ramos said in the statement.
The KMP recommended that the government shift its focus on strengthening farmer cooperatives, make it the government’s mission to achieve food self-sufficiency, and offer interest-free credit, production subsidies, and debt condonation.
Federation of Free Farmer Chairman Leonardo Montemayor said via Messenger that the impact of EO No. 100 will only show up starting next year.
“Most crops have already been harvested meaning the effects will only be felt starting February 2026.”
He said that the floor price mandate is misleading as it only applies to national agencies and local government units only, whose buying power is not enough to persuade traders to raise palay prices.
Mr. Montemayor added that most LGUs do not have the funds to buy directly from farmers, rendering the EO useless if the National Food Authority (NFA) remains the main buyer and sets its own price.
AMIHAN Secretary General Cathy Estavillo said via Viber that EO No. 100 fails to address problems caused by the Rice Tariffication Law, which she said allowed traders to import an excessive amount of grain.
Ms. Estavillo said the Rice Tariffication Act must be repealed if farmgate prices are to rise. — Andre Christopher H. Alampay