Rice farmers see lower price for palay due to price ceiling

Rice farmers have expressed concern over the impact of the mandatory price ceiling the government imposed on regular and well-milled rice.

According to Maki Pulido and Joseph Morong's report on "24 Oras," farmers in Palawan expect the selling price of palay orunmilled rice to fall to P18 per kilo from the present P22 to P24 per kilo because of the price cap.

“Wala kaming magagawa kasi syempre, hindi naman namin hindi pwedeng ibenta yung palay. Hindi naman po kami makakabayad sa utang,” Guillerma Pacquin Valencia said.

“Talagang farmers din po ang magsacrifice din,” he added.

(We can't do anything because we can't forego selling the unmilled rice. We won't be able to pay off our loan.)

Farmers in Isabela also claim that while the current trading price for rice grains is around 23 pesos per kilo, the price ceiling may affect their income soon.

“Okay lang sa amin kasi bumibili rin kami ng [kanin], kaso kapag ang mga palay na namin ang bibilihin ng mura ay ibang usapan na,” Simplicio Ferrer said.

(The price cap is okay because we also buy rice. But if it means selling our unmilled rice at a lower price, that's a different matter.)

The government earlier said that financial aid would be provided to farmers affected by the price ceiling.

In a 24 Oras report by Ian Cruz and Oscar Oida, Bureau of Plant Industry Director Glenn Panganiban directed farmers to their centers for further assistance in selling their crops.

“[Ang] tulong ay sa logistics and marketing natin. Meron din po tayong mga Kadiwa Centers para po magsilbing market at maaring kami rin ang directly magconnect sa mga retailers,” said Panganiban in a Laging Handa briefing.

(The assistance is in logistics and marketing. There are also Kadiwa Centers which may serve as markets and we can also directly connect with retailers.) 

According to the Federation Of Free Farmers Cooperative, the farm gate price of rice crops has dropped by up to three pesos as a result of the price ceiling.

“’Yung kasalanan ng mga hoarders supposed to be at mga price manipulator bale yung farmer ang sasalo ng problema in the form of low palay prices,” Federation Of Free Farmers Cooperative national manager Raul Montemayor said.

(The  supposed sin of the hoarders as price manipulators is going to be paid by the farmers in the form of low palay prices.)

The government is still observing possible rice cartels smuggling grains inside the country and directly affecting retailers and farmers nationwide.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos earlier said that small retailers affected by the declared rice price cap may receive up to P15,000 pesos from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s P5.5-billion Sustainable Livelihood Program.

Marcos announced the temporary rice price cap won Monday.

The ceiling mandated the prices of regular milled rice to 41 pesos per kilogram and well-milled rice to P45 per kilogram. Violators of said price caps may face fines of up to P1 million. —Jiselle Casucian/NB, GMA Integrated News