Days after the lifting of the nationwide rice price cap, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has recorded stable rice prices for regular and well-milled rice.
“[The] DA price monitoring after lifting the price cap shows a stable rice price at the price cap level,” Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian said in a statement.
The DA official said they are expecting the rice prices to further decrease, particularly in rice-producing areas in the Philippines “as the new supply from the ongoing harvest comes in.”
According to DA Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa, the majority of the prices of regular and well-milled rice are within and below P41.00 and P45.00, respectively per their report on October 5.
De Mesa stated that the DA's monitoring teams and the Bantay Presyo Task Forces (BPTF) in the regions are constantly monitoring market rice prices, just days after President Marcos lifted Executive Order (EO) No. 39.
The DA, he said, had kept tabs on 46 markets in the National Capital Region (NCR) with an overall compliance rate to the mandated price ceiling of 96.85 percent for normal milled rice and 85.71 percent for well-milled rice.
In addition, De Mesa said the Bantay Presyo Task Force in the regions had also noted that more than 89 percent of well-milled rice shops and over 86 percent of regular milled rice retailers were selling within the set price ceiling.
On Oct. 4, Marcos lifted EO No. 39 or the nationwide price cap of rice after almost a month of its implementation.
The P41 price cap for regular milled rice and P45 for well-milled rice took effect on Sept. 5