Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (Facebook)

Economist-solon Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda says all efforts to manage the country’s inflation rate must be focused on the staple food of rice.

Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, gave this input following the slight increase in inflation rate from 3.7 percent in March to 3.8 percent in April.

"It's still all about rice. The inflation rates of all major commodities are in the single digits, except rice, and rice alone," he said.

"The management of this rate -- within our inflation targets, but still painful for the poorest households -- must be centered primarily on rice," reckoned Salceda.

The House of Representatives under Speaker Martin Romualdez is leading the effort to amend Republic Act (RA) No.11203 or the Rice Tarrification Law (RTL).

The proposed amendments, which include restoring the National Food Authority’s (NFA) power to directly sell relatively cheaper rice to the market, is expected to give massive relief to consumers.

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"The [RTL] amendments, certified as urgent by President Marcos, will improve the way we manage the massive P29 billion tariff revenues from rice imports so that it helps local farmers and consumers in a more direct way," Salceda said.

"The House acts on PBBM's instructions today, with the House Committee on Ways and Means approving the measures from the agriculture committee this morning," he bared.

He continued: "Moving forward, while corn prices are still decelerating year on year, I have observed an acceleration of poultry prices which will likely reflect on May figures when they come. Corn inflation will likely be positive next month. This is something to watch out for."