Marcos Raises Corn Import Quota to 500,000 Tons as Farmers Warn of Income Losses

More corn imports to ease pressure on meat prices

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has more than doubled the Philippines' corn import allocation under the Minimum Access Volume scheme to 500,000 metric tons, seeking to contain feed costs and prevent increases in pork and poultry prices as the country faces a projected yellow corn shortage.

Executive Order No. 129, signed on October 26, 2026, by Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Marcos's behalf, adds 280,000 metric tons to the allocation. The extra volume would cover about 20% of a projected 1.422 million metric ton yellow corn deficit from March to December 2026.

The measure puts two groups of agricultural producers at the center of a difficult pricing decision. Livestock and poultry producers need affordable corn to feed their animals. Corn growers need buyers to pay enough for their harvests to cover costs and sustain their incomes.

The Federation of Free Farmers estimates that growers could lose up to P12 billion annually if cheaper imports push local buying prices down by P1.70 per kilogram. Its national manager, Raul Montemayor, also estimates that chicken retail prices would fall by less than 1% even if consumers received all the savings from the lower import duties.

The government describes the expansion as a temporary response to a supply gap. Its practical effect will depend on who receives the additional import allocation, when shipments arrive, and whether savings reach livestock producers and shoppers.

What the larger quota changes

The Minimum Access Volume, commonly called MAV, is an allocation that allows a specified quantity of an agricultural product to enter the country at a lower import tax. A tariff is a tax charged on imported goods.

Corn brought in within the allocation faces a 5% tariff, while imports outside it face a 15% tariff. Expanding MAV therefore gives more corn access to the lower rate. Imports beyond the allocation remain subject to the higher rate.

The order describes the previous allocation as 220,000 metric tons, while the Department of Agriculture's earlier proposal used a figure of 216,940 metric tons. Both put the expanded allocation at 500,000 metric tons.

Using the order's figures, the increase is approximately 127%. The new allocation is about 2.27 times the previous one, with the extra volume entering through the MAV Plus Mechanism.

The tariff difference is 10 percentage points. That reduces the tax charged on eligible shipments, but the final cost of imported corn also includes its purchase price, freight and other expenses. A lower tariff gives importers a potential saving whose size depends on those costs.

Why a corn shortage affects pork and chicken

Yellow corn is a major energy source in feeds used to raise hogs and poultry. When corn becomes scarce or expensive, feed manufacturers face higher costs, which can move through the supply chain to farms and eventually to meat counters.

Executive Order No. 129 warns that inadequate domestic corn supply could raise feed costs, increase pork and poultry production costs, and put further pressure on food prices. The government's immediate aim is to prevent those increases by making more corn available under the lower tariff.

The Department of Agriculture cited El Niño and tensions in the Middle East as supply risks. The order also pointed to rising fertilizer, fuel, freight and other agricultural input costs, alongside weather risks that could constrain domestic output.

For a poultry producer, the relevant cost is the price of feed delivered to the farm, rather than the tariff alone. For a household buying chicken, the price also reflects other production expenses, the amount of meat available and demand. Changes at the port therefore pass through several businesses before reaching a shopper.

The extra allocation covers one fifth of the gap

The additional 280,000 metric tons amounts to approximately 19.7% of the projected 1.422 million metric ton yellow corn deficit. Subtracting that extra allocation leaves about 1.142 million metric tons of the projected gap to be addressed through other supply or market adjustments.

The comparison explains the limited scale of the intervention. The government is expanding access to corn at a lower tariff to supplement domestic supply, while the projected shortage is much larger than the extra allocation.

Philippine Statistics Authority figures cited in the debate put national corn production at 8.14 million metric tons in 2025, down from 8.32 million metric tons in 2024. That was a decline of 180,000 metric tons, or about 2.2%.

Those annual figures cover total corn production, while the shortage forecast concerns yellow corn during March to December 2026. They describe different measures: one tracks the previous year's harvest, and the other estimates a supply gap for a particular type of corn over a specified period.

Farmers warn of a P12 billion income risk

The Federation of Free Farmers says cheaper imported corn could affect prices well beyond the imported shipments themselves. Local buyers may use the lower import price as a basis for negotiating what they pay Philippine growers.

Raul Montemayor, the federation's national manager, described the possible annual income loss if farmgate prices, the prices farmers receive when selling their crop, fall by P1.70 per kilogram.

"While this would have minimal benefits to consumers, corn farmers would suffer up to P12 billion in annual losses if farmgate prices fall by P1.7 per kilo," Montemayor said.

The federation's estimate is conditional on that price decline. Its concern is that corn entering under the lower tariff could be cheaper by P1.70 per kilogram, encouraging traders to reduce their local buying prices by a similar amount.

Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, or SINAG, has also opposed the proposal, questioning whether lower import tariffs would produce meaningful consumer savings. Farmer groups have warned that imports arriving alongside local harvests could compete directly with domestic corn and reduce growers' earnings.

The timing matters because growers sell a physical crop that must be stored or moved to buyers. A larger supply arriving during a harvest period can strengthen buyers' bargaining position, making shipment schedules as consequential for farmers as the headline import volume.

Will households receive the savings?

Montemayor argues that the likely benefit at the chicken counter is small compared with the potential loss to corn growers. His estimate assumes that the full saving on import duties moves through the production chain to consumers.

Montemayor set out that assumption when describing the possible change in chicken prices.

"Assuming the savings on import duties would be passed on in full to consumers, retail prices of chicken would go down by less than one percent," he said.

Feed millers and processors could instead retain some of the savings to reduce their own costs, he warned. That makes the distribution of the benefit a central issue: cheaper corn at importation and cheaper chicken at retail are separate steps in the same chain.

The government's stated objective also includes preventing price increases. If other expenses rise while feed costs ease, households could see steadier meat prices rather than an obvious reduction. The outcome will depend on import prices, transport costs, delivery speed and conditions in the livestock and poultry markets.

How the decision reached the executive order

Marcos submitted the proposed increase to Congress on September 29. Under Republic Act No. 8178, the Agricultural Tariffication Act, a proposed MAV adjustment is deemed approved if Congress takes no substantive action within 15 days of receiving it.

Congress did not act on the recommendation within the prescribed period. The proposal was discussed at a House briefing on October 6, before the executive order was signed later that month.

• September 29, 2026: Marcos submitted the proposed corn quota increase to Congress.
• October 6, 2026: The proposal was discussed at a House briefing.
• October 26, 2026: Recto signed Executive Order No. 129 on Marcos's behalf.
• Upon publication: The order takes effect following publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.
• Within 30 days of effectivity: The MAV Management Committee must issue allocation and distribution guidelines.

The publication date and a fixed calendar deadline for those guidelines were not given. Publication is the event that starts the order's effectivity and the committee's 30 day implementation period.

Who can receive the additional allocation?

The order identifies feed millers and feed manufacturers among the eligible beneficiaries. Farmers, cooperatives and associations producing feed for their own livestock and poultry operations are also eligible.

The MAV Management Committee must develop rules intended to ensure equitable and transparent allocation and distribution. Those rules will determine how eligible users gain access to the additional volume.

For livestock operators, access could mean a chance to secure corn at the lower tariff rather than relying entirely on supplies priced under the higher rate. For corn growers, the key concerns are how much arrives, when it enters the market and how local buyers adjust their prices.

The policy's central test is whether it eases pressure on feed and meat prices while limiting damage to domestic growers. The order creates the additional allocation; the distribution rules and subsequent movement of corn through the market will shape who receives its benefits.

Key Points

• Executive Order No. 129 raises the corn import allocation under MAV from 220,000 to 500,000 metric tons.
• The extra 280,000 metric tons covers about 20% of the projected yellow corn deficit for March to December 2026.
• Corn imports within the allocation face a 5% tariff, compared with 15% outside it.
• The Federation of Free Farmers estimates potential annual grower losses of up to P12 billion if farmgate prices fall by P1.70 per kilogram.
• The federation estimates chicken retail prices would fall by less than 1% if all tariff savings reached consumers.
• The MAV Management Committee must issue implementation guidelines within 30 days of the order taking effect.