DA says price of local rice climbed up to P7
DA says price of local rice climbed up to P7; prices of imported rice also went up
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00:00 Due to the recent surge in crude oil prices, the price of rice in the market is also having
00:05 an impact on Filipino consumers.
00:07 Clayzel Pardilia has the details.
00:10 Rice is a staple grain for about 80% of all Filipinos.
00:17 That is why the skyrocketing price of rice is a huge hurt to millions of Filipinos.
00:24 "Before, we used to buy rice for 40 pesos, now we buy for 15 pesos.
00:31 Before, we used to cook rice for 4 people, 1 kilo.
00:37 Now, we cook half a kilo so that next time we can eat."
00:44 The price monitoring of the Department of Agriculture shows, rice is now sold as low
00:50 as 38 pesos a kilo and as high as 65 pesos.
00:56 Prices climbed up to 7 pesos in the second week of August.
01:00 The price of rice ballooned almost 10 pesos a kilo compared to June.
01:05 "There's a lot of rice, that's why it's expensive.
01:09 That's why I said, 'Why is it expensive?
01:11 There's rice.'
01:12 June started last week of June.
01:15 It started at 1.9 pesos, and now, last week, it's 2.3 pesos.
01:24 How much is that?
01:26 400 pesos."
01:27 The Samahang Industria ng Agrikultura or SINAG explained,
01:31 "Now, the stocks here in our local market are being stolen because the international market is high.
01:40 Instead of importing, their option is to buy from our local rice.
01:53 So, if the rice is low now, our local rice is around 31 pesos.
02:02 The price of rice in Thailand is 648, that's FOB.
02:10 So, the freight load is $35, so it's around 683 dollars per metric ton CIF."
02:18 SINAG warns the price of rice may continue to go up amid the increasing cost of petroleum products.
02:25 "The increase of diesel in the delivery is 50 centavos to 1 pesos per kilo, the impact of the increase."
02:40 The Rice Agri-Group and Consumer Watchdog, Bantay Bigas, insists,
02:45 "Prices of rice should not shoot up excessively because farmers sell their staple grain at low prices."
02:52 "16 to 21 pesos per kilo in Ilocos, 21 in Calapan, Mindoro, 19 in Iloilo, and 21 in Isabela.
03:05 So, it's very far from what traders are saying that rice is reaching 34 pesos per kilo."
03:10 "The increase in the price of rice is a price manipulation because who is holding the rice?
03:17 The traders, the importers, the millers.
03:22 Even before Vietnam, India, and the Egyptian Flood,
03:30 the rice that was raised in the past few days at a very high price is now in the warehouse."
03:38 The group appealed for price controls to determine a more accurate price inventory in warehouses.
03:45 "They should inspect the warehouses because in the market,
03:49 they can monitor the high price of rice and they can't do anything about it.
03:55 But the warehouses of importers and millers should be opened."
04:02 The National Food Authority doesn't have the regulatory function to inspect rice warehouses
04:08 as provided in the Rice Liberalization Law,
04:11 but the DA has an inspectorate and enforcement unit.
04:15 "Our enforcement and inspectorate, we can request also them to visit the warehouses,
04:22 especially the warehouses that have rice millers.
04:30 But we can also talk to them and see if the inventory is in the warehouses."
04:38 The DA does not see a need for the imposition of price controls.
04:42 They pointed out the status quo is not classified or fall under emergency.
04:47 The agency disclosed the latest developments with Vietnam has resulted in a deal to buy cheaper imported rice.
04:54 "They lowered the price and they are also acknowledging our contracts with our importers."
05:02 The price of rice is also expected to drop in September when the harvest season starts.
05:08 Khaleza Mardilia for The Nation.