Rice prices up by 12% in Baguio, Benguet

Farmers plant “diket,” a type of heirloom rice, in Mountain Province. —EV ESPIRITU

BAGUIO CITY—Grains traders in this city and Benguet province on Friday reported a 12-percent increase in prices of commercial rice sold in local markets.

Unlike some Cordillera provinces, Benguet is not a rice producing province and relies on rice grown in Isabela, Cagayan and Pangasinan. But stocks supplied by the National Food Authority (NFA) help stabilize the price of commercial rice in public markets.

With reduced allocations of NFA rice, the cheapest rice in Baguio and Benguet now sells for P36 to P38 a kilogram, said Nicolas Medrano Jr., president of the Baguio-Benguet chapter of the Confederation of Grains Retailers Association of the Philippines Inc.

NFA rice needed

The confederation, through Medrano, has asked NFA Administrator Jason Aquino for additional rice allocations while the agency awaits the arrival of imported rice. Agriculture officials had announced the importation of 250,000 bags of rice to stabilize prices.

The inventory of 12,243 bags at the NFA warehouse here was insufficient to cover demand, according to Cecilia Concubierta, NFA Baguio-Benguet manager.

Medrano said grains dealers have not been concerned about supply because palay harvests had started. But he said without sufficient NFA stocks, rice would become expensive.

“The difference between the prices of commercial rice and NFA rice in the market is P10 and that is very steep for the consuming public,” he said.

Premium rice

The most expensive premium rice sells for P55 to P60 a kilogram, Medrano said.

“We still have NFA stocks but we are forced to sell only 3 kilos per buyer to maintain the allocations. That is why people mistakenly believe there is a supply problem,” he said.

NFA stocks make up 10 percent of what are available in the market, but that has gone down to less than 1 percent in recent weeks, he said.

The situation prompted an investigation by the Senate into possible price-fixing and hoarding. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has blamed private traders but many vendors had pointed accusing fingers at the government. —EV ESPIRITU