MEMBERS of the House of Representatives cannot seem to make heads or tails of this staple in every Filipino dining table. Rice, which seems to defy all laws of economics and governance, has stuck to its high level of prices however way the authorities tweak the rules of tariff, production, distribution, and other moving parts of the supply chain.
Failing to even compel the presence of several persons named by Sultan Kudarat Rep. Horacio Suansing Jr. at a House Agriculture Committee hearing more than a year ago, the lawmakers are again at it, asking big market players why the price of rice still reaches the roof despite tariff reductions and other incentives.
Lawmakers are blaming a “collusion” between unscrupulous rice importers and traders as the main factor driving the persistent high prices, despite reports of an oversupply and reduced import tariffs.
At a committee hearing last week, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo argued there was no reason the cost of rice should not go down, citing a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicating that there was an excess supply of rice. Data from the PSA showed the rice demand-supply ratio in 2023, pegged at 82.5, plunged to 69.4 at present, clearly indicating an oversupply.
Records of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) also showed the rice supply from July to October this year was “sufficient,” with the total reaching over 5.4 million metric tons (MT), down by 10.1 percent from the second quarter.
It showed that retail prices of regular milled rice in October recorded a 1.7 percent decrease with the price at P50.22 per kilo from P51.07 per kilo in June. Farm gate prices of palay likewise fell from P24.65 to P20.51 per kilo in the same period. Meanwhile, the price of rice (5% broken) in the international market from top import sources, mainly Vietnam and Thailand, continued to decline from June to October.
Lawmakers argued that with the excess supply of rice along with the enforcement in July of Executive Order 62, which reduced the tariff on rice imports to 15 percent from 35 percent, the markets should be flooded with rice stocks which should lead to a price drop.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the price of rice in the country should stabilize at around P35 per kilo or a 15 percent reduction from its current cost. Meanwhile, Agap Rep. Nicanor Briones surmised that the persistently high price of the staple is artificial. He identified two major importers — RBS Universal Grains Traders Corp. and Sodatrade Corp. — that collectively imported 273,000 metric tons of rice.
The representatives discovered just now that the owners and interlocking directors of the country’s top five importers belong to the same group or families, as the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the Department of Agriculture, which is in charge of approving rice importation permits, did not bother to ascertain the owners of these firms before issuing import licenses. The congressmen are now turning their sights on rice retailers as the possible culprits.
The lawmakers are just beginning to unravel the mystery of high rice prices despite government intervention last July, and they have not touched the issue of rice smuggling yet as if the rice smugglers are genuinely untouchable.
