Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (PPAB)

Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda credited the progress of the House quinta-committee (quinta-comm), particularly the initiatives led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, for the steady decrease in rice prices.

In a statement on Tuesday, Jan. 7, Salceda said the continued decline in prices would mean that rice was no longer a contributing factor in influencing consumer prices. He anticipates that this would further ease inflation.

“The rice price situation is showing signs of improvement. Month-on-month, prices declined by 0.7 percent, a modest but nonetheless real reduction in price,” the economist-solon said.

“More importantly, year-on-year rice prices are at 0.9 percent, significantly below the overall inflation rate of 2.9 percent,” he added.

Salceda, lead chairperson of the quinta-comm, says credit is due for the initiatives spearheaded by the House Speaker.

He pointed out that just last month, Romualdez compelled major rice industry players in Central Luzon to reduce rice prices.

“We expect more reductions in January and February,” he said.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s inflation rate in December 2024 rose to 2.9 percent from November’s 2.5 percent.

Salceda blamed the increase on corn prices, which he flagged last August as an “emerging food issue”.

“The problem seems to be corn, as I have persistently pointed out in recent months,” the congressman said.

He noted that corn inflation was at 5.0 percent year-on-year, which has dragged up meat inflation to 4.9 percent, as the principal input.

Salceda has emphasized that the quinta-comm, also known as the Murang Pagkain Supercommittee, will “work harder” to address the issue.

“Murang Pagkain will be discussing corn and meat next when we reconvene, probably next week,” he said.

“We will also push the DA (Department of Agriculture) to carry on with its proposal for a rice price emergency,” he continued.