This policy brief discusses the importance of lifting the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice in the Philippines. With 8.23 million “food-poor” Filipinos spending as much as 30.6 percent of their total food expenditure on rice, the brief suggests that a public policy on rice tariffication may be necessary to make the staple food more affordable. Tariffication refers to the process of removing non-tariff barriers such as import quotas and converting them into equivalent tariffs. Currently, rice is the only agricultural commodity in the Philippines with a QR, which allows the country to prohibit rice imports beyond a minimum access volume (MAV). The Philippines has an international commitment to tariffy its rice QR, but this requires amending domestic law. The Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) has included proposed amendments to the Agricultural Tariffication Act as part of its priority measures for the 17th Congress. The brief provides a brief history of agricultural tariffication and the current status of the rice QR in the Philippines, highlights the primary reasons and benefits of rice tariffication beyond trade agreements, and suggests elements of a necessary public policy that would improve food security, reduce poverty, and improve food governance. Overall, lifting the QR on rice through tariffication is crucial for ensuring food security and reducing poverty in the Philippines.