The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced this Friday, that the order will begin to be implemented once it is published in newspapers with national circulation.
Based on the order, the price of regular milled rice should not exceed P41.00 per kilo, and well-milled rice should not exceed P45.00 per kilo.
This order was issued after Marcos was concerned about the skyrocketing price of rice in the country which now reaches P45 to P70 per kilo.
But other rice sellers fear that they will not be able to afford the price set by the Palace because their investment is higher.
In a report by Bernadette Reyes on GMA News “24 Oras,” some rice vendors at the Commonwealth market in Quezon City said that they get P49-P51 for the rice they sell per kilo.
According to Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives national manager Raul Montemayor, it is possible that others who cannot afford the price set by the government have stopped selling rice.
P41-P45 per kilo price cap on rice effective on Sept. 5, 2023
“If traders/millers cannot sell at that price, then either they will stop selling rice, or they will shift to, or rebrand, their rice products to grades other than regular milled rice or well milled rice in order to evade the price cap,” said Montemayor.
The Kilusang Mangbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) believes that the price cap can be lowered.
“Sa totoo lang, kaya pang ibaba ng mas mababa kaysa sa P41 at P45 ang presyo ng kada kilo ng regular milled rice at well milled rice, kung susundin lang ang rule of thumb sa pagtatakda ng presyo ng bigas,” said KMP.
“Halimbawa, kung nabili ng rice traders sa median price na P19 hanggang P22 kada kilo ang palay at idagdag pa ang mga mga gastusin sa milling, drying, hauling, transportasyon at iba pa, kung babatay sa rule of thumb, dapat nasa P30 hanggang P37.40 lang ang magiging presyo ng kada kilo ng bigas,” it explained.
The KMP called on the government to go after the rice cartel that allegedly manipulates the price and supply of rice in the market.
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