Farmers and rice retailers may soon breathe a sigh of relief after Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Director Gerald Glenn Panganiban said on Tuesday, Oct. 3, that there are now “positive indicators” for the possible lifting of the rice price ceiling.

Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Director Gerald Glenn Panganiban answers questions from the media during a Palace press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (RTVM screenshot/MANILA BULLETIN)

During a media briefing after the sectoral meeting between the DA and President Marcos, the official gave an insight on the what could lead to the withdrawal of the price cap.

Panganiban also said they were now just awaiting the Chief Executive’s decision on the rice price cap.

“The indicators point that there are decreasing prices observed in (the) market from our implementation starting last month until today; and then we are expecting an increased supply of our local harvest coming this last quarter – for October, November and then the rest of the year,” he explained.

“And the favorable factors externally has been reported, a drop in the export prices of rice in the global market has also been reported,” the DA-BPI director added.

While the bureau has already recommended the lifting of the rice price cap, which took effect in early September and was supposed to be lifted by the end of the month, Panganiban maintained that the next move would still be up to the President, and that he wouldn’t want to preempt his decision.

While waiting for Marcos’ directive, both the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) would be monitoring and surveying prices “so that it will not… again, increase drastically.”

“So, that’s what we are doing and we are working with all agencies of the government – not only the DA but also the DTI and DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) to implement whatever measures and guidelines we can do so that the consumers and of course our stakeholders/the farmers who also benefitted,” he said.

He said that aside from being the harvest season, there was also an increase in production “because of the interventions that our President mandated to our agency.”

The President issued Executive Order (EO) No. 39 on Sept. 5, putting a price ceiling of P41 per kilogram for regular milled rice and P45 per kilogram for well-milled rice across the country, in answer to its rising cost in the market.

However, rice retailers and farmers’ groups balked at the price cap because of its impact on their income.

This led to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) providing P15,000 in aid to selected rice retailers to compensate their losses.