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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Marcos on P20-per-kilo rice: It's a long road there, it's not going to be easy

Marcos on P20-per-kilo rice: It's a long road there, it's not going to be easy

Published Feb 27, 2023 01:07 am

President Marcos said there is a way to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo but admitted that it will take a long time for this to come to fruition.

(Manila Bulletin File Photos)

“It’s a long road there, it's not going to be easy,” the chief executive said when asked during a taped interview with Toni Gonzaga, published on the Toni Gonzaga Studio YouTube page.

One of the steps eyed by Marcos to reduce the price of rice in the country is to “return the National Food Authority (NFA) to its old function.”

“Not so much importation, but really, the buying and then even actually now we can really do it, but it’s a little short term,” he said.

“We sell the buffer stock that they have in NFA, we can sell it at P20; but that’s not really realistic, we have to bring the actual price down.”

If his plan succeeds in a couple of years, the chief executive is bullish that P20 per kilo of rice will be possible.

“And that’s why I am hoping that in the end of all that we are doing, and when I say ‘the end’ I am not talking about tomorrow, I am talking about, maybe, hopefully, if we do it right, then couple three years that we’ll get there. At mabuo natin ‘yung (And we create the) value chain and we make savings at every step, we might... and the world market will slowly be better, we might just make it to P20,” said Marcos.

Asked by Gonzaga if P20 per kilo rice is possible, he said: “Everything is possible... Just have to work very hard at it, come up with new ideas, and be creative about the things you were able to do.”

“That’s why I talked...about transforming our economy, not recovering. Because I don’t want to recover the economy to what it was in 2019. I want to transform the economy to be ready for the shocks, the difficulties we will face from 2022,” he went on.

To recall, Marcos said during his campaign that he was aspiring to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo.

According to Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), the retail price of rice in the market is currently P38 to P42 per kilo.

It is worth noting that Marcos concurrently heads the agriculture department.

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