After a three-week price cap monitoring, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sees an improvement in the supply of rice in public markets as the harvest season kicks in.
"The supply of rice is improving, especially the regular-milled rice that is really enjoyed by ordinary consumers," said DTI Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB) Director Fhilip Sawali in a recent episode of DZBB’s "Konsyumer Atbp".
However, he stressed that some markets have no supply of regular-milled rice (RMR) and well-milled rice (WMR), particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR) because "there are actually stalls especially in supermarkets that do not at all sell WMR and RMR. And there are also stalls, especially in some groceries, RMR and WMR are not available.”
"We also noticed that there is a large percentage of consumers who buy premium or specialty rice," he added.
Meanwhile, in the provinces and most parts of the country, Sawali confirmed that the supply is stable, as the harvest season starts.
According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), rice harvesting is anticipated to total 2.3 million metric tons (MT) in September and 2.9 million MT in October.
Quoting DTI Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual, Sawali said that the DTI, the DA, and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) will hold a meeting Tuesday, Sept. 26, to discuss whether the government is ready to lift the price cap order.
“I think on Tuesday, we will have an idea on the recommendation because the directive of the President (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.) is for DA and DTI to jointly recommend or make recommendations if there are strong indicators that we can lift (Executive Order No, 39),” said Sawali.
In line with this, he emphasized that Pascual has already determined a written report from NEDA which can be used as their basis for the joint recommendation.
As Pascual stated previously, “there are strong indicators that we can seriously consider the lifting of EO 39 in the next two weeks.”
This is from the DTI’s perspective that the volume of rice supply is now increasing, while prices are decreasing.
Sawali affirmed that his team will continue to conduct their daily monitoring together with the DA officials to ensure the price cap is followed before the government lifts the mandate.
He also highlighted whole-of-government efforts, saying that "following the EO 39 price ceilings, the price of rice is going down accompanied by aid, and the DTI is doing a lot more."
"I know that a market linkage is there, Rice-On-Wheels (program) in different areas in the country, there is a loan program from the SBCorp (Small Business Corporation), and there is the SLP (Sustainable Livelihood Program) that I suppose will continue to help the affected small and micro rice retailers all over the country,” he added. (Ma. Joselie C. Garcia)