DA now looking at list of possible ‘manipulators’ of imported rice

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is now looking at a list of traders suspected of “manipulating” the release of imported rice in the market, Agriculture Secretary William Dar revealed on Friday.

With  Rice Tariffication law in place, the retail price of the staple should not go higher than P40 per kilo, Dar told reporters during DA’s on-site price monitoring at the Commonwealth Market in Quezon City.

The cheapest variety should sell for P27 per kilo and the well-milled variety for P35 to P37 per kilo, the Agriculture chief noted.

However, the DA found certain rice varieties were selling up to P45 per kilo at the Commonwealth Market, despite the drop in palay prices.

“Maraming imports pero ‘di pa masyadong naramdaman ang pagbaba,” Dar said.

The farmgate price of palay has plunged to as low as P7 per kilo after rice tariffication was implemented earlier this year, prompting farmers to ask for government intervention.

After the Rice Tariffication law was passed in February, up to 2.4 million metric tons of rice imported rice entered the country, the Agriculture chief noted.

But not all of the imported volume was released into the market. “We have more to see out,” Dar said.

He emphasized that several traders and importers are “managing the release” of imported rice.

“Kung nagma-manage sila at ‘di sapat sa merkado, there is some sort of hoarding,” he said.

The DA is now looking at those traders who are manipulating imported rice.

“Inaaral namin kung sino ‘yung potential na nagmamanipula,” Dar said.

He declined to divulge the names of suspected price and supply manipulator, other than saying the department has a list with their details on it.

“We have the list,” Dar said.

The DA is working closely with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through an anti-hoarding, anti-rice smuggling taskforce.

The Rice Tariffication law removed the quantitative restrictions on rice and imposed a 35-percent tariff on imports from Southeast Asian neighbors.

The law created a Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) amounting to P10 billion, as a safety net for local farmers. The fund is supposed to equip farmers with better tools, seeds, and other interventions to improve productivity. —VDS, GMA News