The P41 to P45 rice price ceiling of the government serves as a compromise for groups that have varying positions on the cap, farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said.

Recently, farmers’ group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said the price of rice can be further reduced to P37 per kilo.  Other groups, meanwhile, expressed opposition to the P41 to P45 rice price cap.

“Those who oppose [the price cap] are extreme, either they want to bring down the retail price further, the others want to a higher retail to increase the farmgate price of palay (rice), so the P41 to P45 ceiling price, is a compromise,” Jayson Cainglet, SINAG executive director, said in a statement.

SINAG said consumers will benefit from the government’s P41 and P45 per kilo of rice for regular and well-milled rice. Meanwhile, KMP said this is still unaffordable for consumers given that prices of other commodities have also spiked amid high prices of petroleum products.

“From the current retail of P60 [per kilo] it will now become P45 [per kilo], definitely the consumers will benefit here,” said Cainglet

“The mere fact that you will bring down the regular and well-milled rice to P41 and P45, the benefit will be immediate.”

Cainglet has belied claims that there is a shortage in the supply of rice, saying that the country has ample supply of rice.

“Based on assurance of the millers and all in the industry, nobody is saying there is a shortage (of rice). There is probably hoarding and profiteering but not shortage,” he said.

“The expected harvest is at seven million metric tons (MT). If there is no shortage, how come there is a spike in the retail price of rice? The price ceiling will solve the high cost of the grains,” he went on.

On the other hand, SINAG has urged the National Food Authority (NFA) to take advantage of the harvest season and buy rice from the farmers.
 
“The real solution here is by harvest time, the NFA should buy palay (rice) as they will also earn. It is not true they suffer losses when procuring palay (rice) as they will also sell rice. The NFA can compete and buy at P22, P23 per kilo, that should be their buying price during the harvest time,” Cainglet said.

Earlier, President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos has approved the recommendation to impose a rice price cap in the country. Through Executive Order (EO) No. 39, the mandated price ceiling for regular milled rice is P41 per kilo, while it is P45 per kilo of well-milled rice.