The government’s implementation of the rice price ceiling is 95 percent successful since it started last Sept. 5, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

“So far, as of yesterday, ma-re-report natin na nagkaroon tayo ng 95 percent na success rate, which means nag-comply po ang ating retailers. Ninety-five po ‘yan kasi siyempre, hindi po natin maiiwasan na mayroon po talagang mga umaalmang retailers (So far, as of yesterday, we can report that we had a 95 percent success rate, which means our retailers have complied. That's 95 percent because, of course, we can't avoid that there are retailers who are against the price cap),” lawyer Willie Ann M. Angsiy, DA’s spokesperson and director of legal services, said in an interview on Thursday, Sept. 7.

“Even if may mga umaalma, patuloy pa rin po tayong nag-di-disseminate ng information para po ma-explain sa kanila na importante pong sumunod sa ating price cap, at mabibigyan po natin sila ng ayuda basta po ay sumunod po lamang sila (Even if there are people opposing the cap, we will still continue to disseminate information to explain to them that it is important for them to follow the price cap, and for them to get government assistance as long as they follow),” she added.

Acknowledging that some retailers are purchasing regular milled and well-milled rice for higher prices, Angsiy said the government will provide assistance such as financial, logistics, and market linkages to help rice retailers.

She said that the there is still enough stock regular and well-milled rice as the rice price cap is on its first week of implementation.

“With respect to maintaining po ‘yung stock level ng ating (of our) retailers, we are working closely with PRISM (Philippine Rice Industry Stakeholders Movement), private sector, and our importers para ma-ensure po na magkakaroon ng stock (to ensure that there is stock). Kinakausap din natin ang ating farmers para maging direkta ang pag-deliver ng stock from farmers to directly to the retailers na, diyan po tayo mag-i-intervene (We are also in talks with our farmers in order for them to directly supply our retailers, that’s where we intervene),” the DA spokesperson said.

To ensure the quality of regular milled and well-milled rice sold in markets, Angsiy said the agriculture department will deputize personnel of the National Food Authority (NFA) to check if they are mixed by retailers with low quality rice.

“So ito pong NFA, i-de-deputize po ‘yan ng DA para po mayroon po talaga tayong (The personnel of NFA will be deputized by the DA in order for us to have people with) technical expertise to determine that these are properly classified as regular milled and well-milled rice,” she said.

Angsiy said the price cap being implemented by the government has been studied thoroughly by several agencies, saying that a lot of things have been considered before the price ceiling was recommended to President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.

“There are several factors that were considered in coming up with this. Syempre, una, magiging affordable na ba iyan sa arting consumers. Pangalawa, magkano ba ang input cost nito sa ating farmers? Magkano ba ang farmgate price? So marami po tayong factors na kinonsider. At ito naman po ay average ng presyuhan natin nitong mga nakalipas na lingo (Of course, first, will it be affordable for consumers? Second, how much is the input cost of our farmers? How much is the farmgate price? So we have many factors have been considered. And this is the average of our pricing in recent weeks),” she said

“With existing market factors, this was really studied by NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority ), DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), and DA kung magkano po talaga ang market cap na i-re-recommend sa ating Pangulo (if how much market cap will be recommended to the President); because this is the price coordinating council’s recommendation also,” she went on.

Earlier, Marcos approved the recommendation to impose a rice price cap in the country. Through 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.

The Chief Executive has also urged the public to report to authorities retailers selling rice above the government’s price limit.