House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Facebook)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has expressed strong belief that, given the right circumstances, prices of rice could plunge to below P30 per kilo come July.

Romualdez made this pronouncement after engaging Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. in a meeting at the House of Representatives Monday, May 6.

"Opo, gagawin po natin ang lahat, yun po ang ating goal na aagahan natin ‘yung pagbaba ng presyo ng bigas (Yes, we will do everything we can, the goal is to make cheaper rice available earlier)," Romualdez told reporters after the meeting when asked if it was possible to have rice priced at P29 per kilo rice.

"Kasama din natin ang [National Irrigation Administration] Administrator [Eduardo] Guillen, with full support sa irrigation program, we will work together hand-in-hand para mapaaga ang goal natin na ibababa natin ang presyo ng bigas at ibang mga commodities po," he said.

(We are also working NIA Administrator Eduardo Gullen, with full support from the irrigation program, we will work together hand-in-hand so that we can achieve our goal of bringing down the price of rice and other basic commodities.)

Earlier Monday, President Marcos announced that he would certify as urgent the bills seeking to amend Republic Act (RA) No.11203 or the Rice Tarrification Law (RTL). This is seen as a major boost in the effort to reduce rice prices as it would restore the National Food Authority's (NFA) power to directly sell cheaper rice to the market.

Currently, the retail price of well-milled and premium rice is anywhere from P50 to P60.

Tiu explained how these proposed amendments to the RTL would make it feasible for the staple grain to be sold at below P30 at retail.

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"Dati sir nakatali iyung kamay ng DA and NFA due to ‘yung certain law that we have existing so meron tayong pinababago sa batas at hopefully ma-pass ng Congress ito para mabigyan ng leway na mag-intervene ang DA at NFA sa issue sa bigas," he said.

(Before, the hands of the DA and NFA were tied due to a certain law that we have existing so we're asking for amendments to the law and hopefully Congress will pass it and give the DA and NFA the leeway to intervene on the issue of rice.)

Romualdez said they also want to do the with pork, for the benefit of consumers. He claimed that the price of other products like chicken, eggs, and sugar have already gone down.

"Kailangan lang dito ay proper coordination kaya ‘yung sinabi ni Secretary [Tiu] (Like what the Secretary said, what we need is full coordination). We are in full coordination with the department of agriculture and our agri team," said the House leader.

Tiu attended the House Committee on Agriculture and Food's hearing on the proposed RTL amendments Monday morning as one of the resource speakers.