Farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) has supported the rice price ceiling order of President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.
Marcos ordered the rice price cap following a sectoral meeting on Aug. 29 where he was briefed on the country's rice predicament.
Through Executive Order (EO) No. 39, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Aug. 31, the mandatory price ceiling for regular milled rice is P41 per kilogram, while it is P45 per kilogram for well-milled rice. The price cap shall be implemented effective immediately.
“Tama po ‘yung imposition dahil unang-una ‘yung ating stocks ngayon ay galing sa dating farmgate price na P20 to P23 kaya tama lang po talaga na nasa ganyang presyo ang bigas (The rice price ceiling ordered by the President is right because our rice stocks now are from the farmgate price of P20 to P23),” Jayson Cainglet, SINAG executive director, said during a radio interview on Friday, Sept. 1.
The farmers’ group said the country currently has ample stock of rice that’s why it puzzles SINAG why the price of rice are skyrocketing in the market.
“We are actually attributing that doon sa naging statement ng NFA (National Food Authority) a few weeks back na two weeks na lang ang buffer stock kaya nagkaroon ng panic po, ‘no, na tila may shortage (…that there’s only two weeks of buffer stock which caused panic, making it looks there is a shortage). Pero sa mismong pahayag po ng DA (Department of Agriculture), at sa aming computation, wala po tayong shortage sa bigas (But according to the statement of the DA, and based on our computation, there is no shortage),” he said.
According to SINAG, the rice price cap ordered by Marcos will not negatively affect traders and retailers.
“Hindi po [malulugi ang traders at retailers]. Kahit sa P25 ‘yung farmgate natin, lahat po ng nasa industriya ng bigas, wala pong malulugi (Retailers and traders will not lose money. Even if the farmgate is P25, all stakeholders in the rice industry will not lose money),” said Cainglet.
Based on the price monitoring of the DA, the price of regular milled rice in Metro Manila markets ranged from P42 to P55 per kilo as of Aug. 28.