The Philippines is expected to produce 1.9 million metric tons (MMT) of rice this October, which will increase the country’s supply of the primary staple, an official of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) said.

In a Malacanang briefing on Tuesday, Oct.3, DA-BPI Director Gerald Glenn Panganiban assured the public that the country has ample supply of the primary staple as the harvest season of rice has already begun.

“For October, we are expecting almost 1.9 million metric tons of rice for this month so that will jump our days to last or our supply of rice to 74 days,” he said.

“It increased from 52 [days] last September because we are expecting more bumper harvest for the coming October and November, the public can expect that we will have a stable supply of our main staple,” he went on.

The DA-BPI director said they have monitored a decrease in the prices of rice in the market. Just few days ago, Agriculture Senior Usec. Domingo F. Panganiban said they have observed a P5 per kilo decrease in the price of rice.

Meanwhile, Panganiban said the government’s  P41 to P45 rice price cap has yet to be lifted as the decision is up to President Marcos, who concurrently heads the agriculture department.

“From our parameters naman ay mukhang ready na (From our parameters, it looks ready). But of course, it’s all upon the President to decide on in,” he said.

Earlier, the DA said that the rice price cap being imposed by the government may last until October if the retail price of rice does not drop to P38 per kilo.

The P41 price cap for regular milled rice and P45 for well-milled rice took effect on Sept. 5, through Executive Order No. 39.