Rice price cap delayed
By Nidz Godino
"He said he will bring down price of rice per kilo to P20. It will primarily hurt small retailers who are merely at receiving end of rice and farmgate prices due to costlier production inputs, but may do very little to curb hoarding and price manipulation by rice importers and syndicates," Gabriela Women's party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas noted price cap on rice approved by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may help curb rising costs, but it is also seen to have detrimental effects on farmers due to lower farmgate prices, as well as on consumers as this may further limit supply of food staple, according to industry players.
Through Executive Order 39, FMJ approved recommendation to set price ceilings nationwide on rice P41 for regular milled and P45 for well-milled rice amid hefty increase in retail prices in the market.
Based on Department of Agriculture (DA)'s monitoring in Metro Manila markets, retail prices of local well-milled rice ranged between P47-P57 per kilo, and P42-P55 per kilo for local regular milled.
For imported commercial rice, well-milled was at P43-P52 per kilo while imported regular milled rice was not available in markets.
Compared to last month, local well-milled rice was only around P41-P49 a kilo and regular milled at P37-44 per kilo, while imported well-milled rice ranged between P44-48 per kilo.
While this may control retail prices now, mandated price ceiling even if well enforced will have other effects, Philippine Institute for Development Studies senior research fellow Roehlano Briones said. "It will also be bad for consumers because it will lead to shortage, adulterated rice, reclassification of rice grades, etc…also, farmgate prices will be kept from increasing," Briones said.
Price cap comes at time when rice farmers are about to harvest their wet season crops, usually done in September to December.
Rice prices both at farmgate and retail level drastically rose in early August following impact of storm damage in late July, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said.
Farmgate price of palay has soared to as high as P30-34 per kilo, he said.
FMJ should not give Filipinos another false hope just like his "broken campaign promise" of P20 per kilo of rice, watchdog group Bantay Bigas said after imposition of price ceiling on staple grains."First, he should not give illusion to Filipino people just like when he promised P20 per kilo of rice... he should not target small retailers and instead go after big private traders and hoarders who manipulate prices of rice in markets," Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estavillo told media.
She stressed FMJ original promise was to bring down retail prices of staple food to P20 per kilo and not P41 and P45 per kilo for regular and well-milled rice, respectively.
According to Estavillo, family consumes at least two kilos of rice daily, representing 13 percent of P610 minimum wage.
For Makabayan bloc, FMJ order for price ceiling on rice is only intended to cover his unfilled campaign promise to bring down rice prices.
"ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, for her part, said EO is meant to make administration look good amid rising costs of commodities in the country… FMJ should have acted on spiraling prices of rice so maybe, this EO is intended only to pacify people," she added.
Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel said Rice Tarrification Law only resulted in influx of imported rice, which has been detrimental to local farmers.
Farmers group' Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director Jayson Cainglet backed issuance of EO 39.
"We laud the President for issuing EO 39, mandating price ceiling for rice… no reason for any price increase these past weeks as there is no rice shortage in the country," Cainglet said.
Meanwhile,Farmers' group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said P41 and P45 price ceiling on regular and well-milled rice is already delayed and still high amid spike in the cost of grains.
"Assuming trader bought palay at P22 per kilo, if you add cost, including milling, hauling, you multiply that at 70 percent, total additional cost will be P15.40 and add P22 (per kilo farmgate price), retail price for well-milled rice is only P37.40 and not P45 (per kilo)," KMP chairman Danilo Ramos said, noting that tdifference is still P7.60 per kilo.
"It is for this reason that we believe EO 39 is still delayed and second, price ceiling is still high," Ramos added.
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