The Department of Agriculture (DA) yesterday said rice production has increased, resulting in a 52-day buffer stock as of the end of September.
But the DA said no decision has been made on whether or not to lift the price ceilings on regular and well- milled rice.
Gerald Glenn Panganiban, director of the Bureau of Plant and Industry, in a briefing in Malacanang yesterday said the Philippines will have a stable supply of rice in the last quarter of the year.
Panganiban said the country is expected to harvest 1.9 million metric tons of rice this month which will boost national buffer stocks of the staple to 74 days from 52 days at present.
Panganiban said it is up to President Marcos Jr., who is the concurrent DA secretary, to decide whether to lift or retain the price cap as mandated under Executive Order (EO) 39.
Panganiban said indicators that would signal the lifting of the price cap– declining rice prices in the domestic market, the increasing supply of rice and favorable external factors such as decreasing global rice prices – are now all present but further verification is still being done.
“Let us just wait for it,” Panganiban said when asked if there was a recommendation to lift the price ceiling.
Asked further if a recommendation has been submitted, presidential briefer Daphne Oseña-Paez said: “No, there was a report that showed favorable factors. So, we should wait.”
Price caps of P41 per kilo on regular milled rice and P45 per kilo on well-milled rice have been in place since September 5 in a bid to arrest the rising prices of rice in the market. The rise in prices was attributed to the smuggling, hoarding and price manipulation by profiteers.
Panganiban said about 80 percent to 90 percent of the retailers complied with the price cap.
Agriculture Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla, during the sectoral meeting, said the department monitored the supply of rice in the market has risen to 52 days as of the end of September.
The DA expects that by the end of October, with the harvest in full swing, the supply will be equivalent to 74 days.
Panganiban said since the implementation of EO 39, the price of rice has gone down to an average of P41.91 per kilo of regular milled rice at P45.95 per kilo of well-milled rice.
He said the expected increase in supply of the local harvest in the last quarter and the rest of the year, and the reported favorable factors such as the drop in the export prices of rice in the global market have also further contributed to the stability in the supply and price of the commodity.
He said the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry would continue to monitor the prices to ensure that “it will not, again, increase drastically.”
