₱12B forgone from banning rice imports

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the government's forgone revenues from the implementation of the rice import ban could reach as much as ₱12 billion if the proposed one-month extension to the ongoing 60-day suspension is approved.

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"Our forgone revenues, assuming a 60-day period—though it might extend to 90 days, with a proposal to last until the end of the year-would amount to ₱6 billion to ₱8 billion over those two months," Nepomuceno told reporters on the sidelines of the Federation of Philippine Industries Inc.'s (FPI) Business Summit 2025 on Wednesday, Oct. 8.

This translates to an average of ₱3 billion to ₱4 billion per month, which is projected to reach ₱12 billion by the end of the ban.

The latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the BOC collected ₱621.4 billion from January to August, 1.1-percent higher than last year's ₱614.4 billion.

However, based on the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee's (DBCC) 2025 Midyear Report published on Sept. 30, there were significant declines in the BOC's collections of non-oil import duties as of end-June.

In particular, revenues from non-oil import tariffs fell by 22.3 percent to ₱45.9 billion in the first semester from ₱59 billion a year ago.