Salceda: P20 rice not 'impossible' but will be at expense of other sectors

While it is not “impossible,” Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda said lowering rice prices to P20 would be at the expense of other sectors in the country.

In an episode of The Howie Severino Podcast, Salceda proposed the government consider other policy options as lowering the price of rice would cost the government at least P180 billion per year.

“Hindi sa impossible kundi it will be at the expense of some many other sectors which are of equal priority,” the legislator said.

(It is not impossible but it will be at the expense of many other sectors which are of equal priority.)

“It will take you at least about P180 billion to sustain that for one year and you wanna sustain that for the rest. You will be spending a lot of money. Why don't you just give that money to the farmers so they can produce better? So there were policy options,” he added.

It can be recalled that during the campaign period, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he would recommend a price cap on rice to bring down prices to as low as P20 per kilogram.

Marcos Jr. did not provide details on how he would drive the rice prices down but later in May, he said it was an “aspiration” and there is a need to fix the value chain to attain it.

The value chain is the series of stages involved in producing a product or service that is sold to consumers, with each state adding to the value of the product or service.

Instead of P20 per kilo, Salceda also recommended aiming between P38 to P42.

“You have to understand a Marcos. A Marcos is well-known for the articulation of grand national ambition…the word is aspirational,” he said.

“Second is I think why not from P38 to P42 and you push it, go up to 20, I think, it will create public good. In other words, it's the direction that matters,” he added.

Latest data available from the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that the average prices of rice ranges from P38 to P50 per kilogram for local, and from P37 to P52 per kilogram for imported as of June 6, 2022.—Sundy Locus/LDF, GMA News