DA says rice price stable days after price cap lifted

An official from the Department of Agriculture said Friday that the price of rice has been stable even after the lifting of the price ceiling.

"[The] DA price monitoring after lifting the price cap shows a stable rice price at the price cap level,” DA Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian said in a statement issued by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

Sebastian made the remark days after President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. ordered the lifting of the rice price cap.

"Well, I think it's the appropriate time since namimigay tayo ng bigas. Yes, as of today we are lifting the price caps on the rice both for the regular-milled rice and for the well-milled rice," Marcos said in an interview in Taguig City on Wednesday.

(Well, I think it's the appropriate time since we have been distributing rice. Yes, as of today we are lifting the price caps on the rice both for the regular-milled rice and for the well-milled rice.)

"So tinatanggal na natin 'yung mga control. Pero hindi ibig sabihin basta't ganoon na lang dahil kailangan pa rin natin ayusin ang agricultural sector," he added.

(So we removed all the control. But it doesn't mean we will leave it at that because we still need to fix the agricultural sector.)

Marcos' Executive Order 39 mandated a price cap of P41 per kilogram for regular-milled rice, and P45 per kilogram for well-milled rice which became effective on September 5.

'Rice prices expected to go down'

Sebastian said the DA is expecting that rice prices will go down, particularly in rice-producing areas in the country "as the new supply from the ongoing harvest comes in."

At the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing, DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the country's rice stock is expected to go up to 94 days in November due to the expected harvest of rice this month.

"Patuloy 'yung pag-aani ng ating magsasaka at inaasahan po natin ngayong Oktubre 'yung pinakamadami na mahaharvest po ngayong panahon ng wet season at dahil po dito, puwede pong pumalo ang ating National Inventory Stocks hanggang 77 days ngayong buwan ng Oktubre at sa buwan po ng Nobyembre, sa katapusan po ng pag-aani para sa wet season, inaasahan po na papalo po ito ng 94 days," De Mesa said.

(The harvest continues and we expect that this month, we will have a bountiful harvest and due to this, the National Inventory Stock could go up to 77 days this month and 94 days by November.)

Meanwhile, De Mesa said the DA’s monitoring teams and the Bantay Presyo Task Forces (BPTF) are continuously monitoring the rice prices in the market. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News