THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is open to the idea of declaring a rice emergency if and when recommended by the National Price Coordination Council.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the declaration of “rice emergency” can help address persistently high prices of rice.
The DA said Republic Act 12078 which amended the Rice Tariffication Law grants the secretary of agriculture the authority to declare a food security emergency in the event of a supply shortage or extraordinary price fluctuations.
Specifically, a rice emergency will allow the National Food Authority (NFA) sell its buffer stock to the public at appropriate prices.
“If declaring a rice emergency allows us to sell NFA’s nearly 6 million bags of rice at flexible prices to the public, then that’s definitely a good move,” said Tiu Laurel
The NFA has current buffer stock stands at approximately 5.5 million 50-kilogram bags.
Tiu Laurel said intensified moves against rice profiteers could also help in bringing down prices.
“If we really want to tackle those exploiting certain rice brands, this is the best way to hit them where it hurts, their pockets,” said Tiu Laurel.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in a separate statement, said it is helping DA in an intensified price monitoring to ensure the availability of regular and well-milled rice priced between P40 per kg to P45 per kg.
“Our monitoring teams are actively inspecting markets across the country to ensure compliance with fair trade laws. We will not hesitate to impose fines, closures, and other penalties on those found to be non-compliant,” said DTI Secretary Cristina Roque.
Based on DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region as of last Wednesday, local well-milled rice is priced at P40 to P52 per kg and regular milled, P40 to P48 per kg.
Imported well-milled rice is sold at P40 to P56 per kg and imported regular milled rice is sold at P44 to P48 per kg.
The price of imported rice ranges from P55 to P63 for the special variety and P52 to P60 for premium.
For local rice, the special variety costs P58 to P61 per kg and premium, P48 to P58 per kg.
