RICE price watchdog Bantay Bigas on Saturday, Dec. 9, warned that prices of regular-milled rice may reach up to P60 per kilogram over gaps in local supply and rising prices in the international market.
Prices of regular-milled rice in some markets in Metro Manila ranged from P52 to P54 per kilogram, as of Saturday.
However, Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estavillo said prices of rice are not only high in Metro Manila.
In rice-producing province Aurora, for instance, the cheapest rice is P52 per kilogram, according to Estavillo.
“‘Yon ang malungkot na realidad. Magpa-Pasko pa naman,” she told Teleradyo Serbisyo in a telephone interview.
Estavillo said rice price hike may continue until the holiday season.
“Nakakatakot. Baka aabot talaga ng P60 per kilo ‘yong mga regular-milled rice given na wala namang nagagawang concrete na solusyon ‘yong gobyerno bagkus ay mag-import,” she said.
The National Food Authority (NFA) is pushing for rice importation to augment the country’s supply.
During Dec. 6 briefing before the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, NFA administrator Roderico Bioco said initial shipments of rice from India are expected to arrive in the country this month. But he admitted prices will remain a challenge.
“We will have more supply by December. Prices are something that we hope will go down. But considering there is no more supply from the local market, unfortunately, there will still be [a] challenge in the prices of rice for December,” Bioco said.
Agriculture group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) chairman Rosendo So said rice prices in other countries are also rising, which may affect local rice prices.
“Maski imported mahal kasi eh. Ang Thailand, ‘yong well-milled rice eh nasa $600 per metric tons; ‘yong Vietnam nasa $643 per metric tons,” So said.
He continued, “Dahil mataas ang world market ngayon, siyempre ‘yong landed cost eh mataas, so mataas din binebenta ‘yong imported rice.” (ABS-CBN News)
