Senator Cynthia Villar urged on Wednesday the Department of Trade in Industry (DTI) to recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte a ceiling on the price of rice in the country.
Villar said the DTI should file a recommendation as the current price of rice is already “illogical.”
“Sana i-implement na nila ‘yun kasi tingin ko masyado nang mataas itong mga prices na ito. It’s not anymore logical,” Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, said in an interview with ABS CBN News Channel.
Under the Price Act, the DTI, as head of the Price Coordinating Council, could recommend a price ceiling if the department finds unreasonable increases in the prices of basic commodities in the country.
Villar added that the price of rice should only be at around P40 per kilo, P15 lower than to what rice sellers impose.
“Bakit tumataas nang ganun? There’s something wrong. There’s really a cartel dito sa mga goods na ito,” Villar said.
The price of rice in Zamboanga City reportedly spiked to P70 per kilo but Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol denied the reports.
“I was in the market of Zamboanga City on August 13 and I did not see any 70 pesos rice. That could not happen, maaaring sa internal areas,” Piñol said. /vvp
READ: Piñol: No P70 per kilo rice in Zamboanga City