Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in a speech before departing for Indonesia for the ASEAN summit, said hoarders and smugglers were the only reason why rice prices have skyrocketed in markets.
“Sa lahat ng pag-aaral ng Department of Agriculture at lahat ng ibang ahensya ng pamahalaan, hindi namin makita ang magagandang dahilan kung bakit tataas ang presyo ng bigas. Sa pag-aaral namin, ang dahilan lamang dito ay talagang nandiyan ang mga smuggler atsaka mga hoarder,” said Marcos.
[Translation: In all the studies of the Department of Agriculture and other government agencies, we could not see any good reason why rice prices would go up. In our studies, the only reason is the presence of smugglers and hoarders.]
Based on the DA’s monitoring of per-kilo market prices in Metro Manila as of Aug. 30, local well-milled rice costs up to ₱56, while imported rice costs up to ₱52. Local regular milled rice, meanwhile, is sold for up to ₱55, while imported regular milled rice is sold for up to ₱43.
A price cap on the grain, to be imposed beginning Sept. 5, will give the public a reprieve from high prices.
Executive Order No. 31, which the president signed on Aug. 31 states that regular milled rice may only be sold for up to ₱41 per kilo, while the price ceiling on well-milled rice is at ₱45 per kilo.
However, Marcos said this arrangement would be temporary.
‘Tayo po ay umaani na ng palay, tapos na ang season. At kaya’t pagdating ng panahon, papasok pa, may mga inimport na bigas, sabay-sabay na papasok yan at makikita basta ilalagay sa palengke pabayaan ulit natin ang presyo ng bigas na maghanap ng sarili niyang presyo,” he said.
[Translation: We are harvesting rice, the season is over. And there is the incoming expected imports of rice as well. That will all come in and will be put in the markets and the prices will stabilize.]
To help retailers that would be affected by the cap, Marcos said assistance would be given to these businesses as they bought rice at high prices, but now would sell them for less. He said the Department of Trade and Industry and the DA were working to make a list of rice retailers and calculate their potential losses due to the price cap.
“Ang DSWD naman ay tiniyak namin na meron silang pondo, ihanda upang pag nakalkula na natin ang lugi ng mga rice retailer ay bibigyan naman natin sila ng tulong,” he said.
[Translation: We will assure the DSWD has funds and this will be prepared so once losses are calculated, rice retailers will be given help.]
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