Price of rice up in Marawi, says DTI

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has confirmed that a variant of commercial well-milled rice is being sold for more than P5,000 per sack in conflict-stricken Marawi City.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Ferdinand Monfeste, officer in charge of DTI’s Fair Trade and Enforcement Bureau, said the brand “Happy Meal Well-Milled Rice” was being sold in Marawi costs P5,600 per 25-kilogram sack.

Monfeste, citing a verified DTI report on June 5, said a 50-kg sack of the same brand was earlier sold also for P5,600.

He said the DTI did not receive reports of the same product being offered by retailers in other areas in Mindanao.

Other commercial rice products are available in the Lanao del Sur provincial capital at lower prices, generally costing up to P50 a kg, DTI officials said.

President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao after combined forces of the Maute terror group and Abu Sayyaf bandits attacked Marawi. With the martial law declaration, which is effective for 60 days, the government froze the prices of basic goods.

According to Trade Undersecretary Teodoro Pascua, it is up to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to look into possible violations committed by rice retailers since the DA sets the selling prices for different rice varieties.

Pascua, however, said their monitoring showed that prices of rice were stable in Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9), Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Davao region (Region 11), Soccsksargen (Region 12) and Caraga region (Region 13). —ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL