FILE PHOTO: A farmer dries palay in Pulilan, Bulacan province, in a sign of good harvest amid rising prices. Government plans to import more rice are likely to harm local farmers. Philippine Daily Inquirer/Niño Jesus Orbeta
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the concurrent chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA), is attributing the high price of rice in the market to expensive farmgate costs and importation.
In a statement released by the Palace on Friday, Marcos said the price of rice would only become steady if the country had increased supplies and reserves of the Filipinos’ favorite staple food.
Earlier, the President said the government is closely monitoring rice supplies as the price per kilo surged to about P56.
“Ang binabantayan siyempre natin ‘yung farmgate price, dahil ‘yun ang nagpapataas sa presyo ngayon, at pati ‘yung pag import ng mga ibang inputs, at saka ng bigas mismo. So I think na pagka ‘yung supply natin ay dumami at humaba ang ating reserve, eh mag stabilize na ang ating presyo,” Marcos explained.
(What we are watching is the farmgate price because that is causing the increase now, and also the importation of other inputs, including rice itself. So I think that when our supply increases and our reserve increases, our price will stabilize.)
READ: Rice prices expected to rise – DA
Marcos said he received reports that rice harvest had already started in Nueva Ecija, Isabela, and North Cotabato – which, he noted, should expand the country’s supplies.
The President previously pointed to agricultural hoarders as another reason for the high prices of food products and ordered the Department of Justice and National Bureau of Investigation to go after them.
Marcos also ordered the DA and Department of Trade and Industry to closely monitor rice prices.
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