The price cap on rice could be lifted soon, a Department of Agriculture (DA) official said, as the harvest season in the country is underway.
In a Palace briefing, Gerald Glenn Panganiban, a DA director, said indicators showed abundant rice supply, along with declining domestic prices and a reduction in global rice prices.
Panganiban said the available rice supply in the market reached 52 days’ worth by the end of September. By the end of October, with the harvest season is in full swing, the supply is projected to increase to a 74-day equivalent.
“From our parameters, mukhang ready na,” he said. “But of course, it’s all upon the president to decide on it.”
He said the expected rise in local harvest supply during the last quarter of the year, along with favorable factors such as the reduction in global rice export prices, have contributed to the continued stability in both the supply and pricing of rice.
Rice prices have decreased, nearing the price ceiling. The average price for regular milled rice is approximately P41.91 per kilogram, while well-milled rice is priced at around P45.95 per kilogram.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order No. 39 on Sept. 5, which established price limits for both regular and well-milled rice across the entire country.
According to the order, the prescribed price limit for regular milled rice is set at P41 per kilogram, while the designated price ceiling for well-milled rice was P45 per kilogram.
“So that’s about it and we are expected that DA and DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) to have collaborations in order to further monitor and survey the prices so that it will not… again, increase drastically,” Panganiban said. John Ezekiel J. Hirro