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NewsTranscript
00:00 Meanwhile, the price cap on rice is gone after President Bongbong Marcos removed it yesterday. We will talk to the Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry Director, Glenn Panganiban.
00:10 Director Glenn, good morning.
00:12 Good morning, Iban.
00:14 Director, I understand that you have one agency that gave recommendations to President Bongbong Marcos to remove the price cap on rice.
00:24 What was your recommendation and what was the basis of the President's decision?
00:28 Okay. Thank you for that. Iban, we noticed that after one month of implementation of our price cap,
00:38 and this was also mentioned in your reports, the price of our rice has dropped, the regular and well-milled.
00:47 It stabilized from 41 to 45 respectively.
00:51 Second, sir, it was also mentioned in one of your interviews that we have a local harvest.
00:58 This October, we are expecting almost 2.9 million metric tons of rice.
01:04 If it's ground or processed, it's within 1.9 million metric tons. So our harvest is already there.
01:12 Third, although it's not felt yet, the trending is that the price of our rice is dropping in the global market.
01:24 It rose between July and August, but now, in the latter part of September, it's dropping.
01:32 So those three major indicators, among others, are our basis for the recommendation.
01:40 And because of those reasons, many of our countrymen are hoping that the price of rice will continue to drop.
01:47 Is this what you're seeing and how far will it drop?
01:51 Hopefully sir, because it was mentioned that we have a harvest this October.
01:56 When November comes, it will continue until December.
02:00 During the holiday season, that's what we're expecting. The price is high.
02:04 With this supply, hopefully our supply in the market will sustain.
02:10 Our efforts in the Department of Agriculture are continuous.
02:15 Our president instructed us to continue assistance and intervention to our farmers
02:21 and the livelihood opportunities for our retailers so that our price will continue to drop.
02:29 We were expecting that of course because we have enough supply.
02:33 I have good news, it will drop. But I will ask first, how far will it drop?
02:38 Because our countrymen are still asking if there is hope for the 20 pesos per kilo of rice as promised by the president.
02:44 Ivan, our objective is to continue to drop until it's possible.
02:52 I have mentioned to you that the Department of Agriculture is not stopping in giving interventions to our farmers
03:01 because that's what they need. The input cost is low.
03:04 Now, we are clustering, we are providing rice, we are providing machinery.
03:10 So hopefully, because before the president took the Department of Agriculture portfolio,
03:17 our problems in agriculture are not being addressed.
03:23 I think he's the one who's really facing the problems.
03:27 That's why our problems, although sometimes they are magnified, but I think the president is there to always support
03:35 not only our farmers but also our consumers so that our prices will drop.
03:41 Director, how is the investigation on the rice being sold that is of low quality?
03:47 Sir, we in the Bureau of Plant Industry in food safety have a mandate.
03:54 We have already made it to the market to test these.
03:59 Sometimes, the others are already in a bad state.
04:02 So we are coordinating with other government agencies, with DPI.
04:07 Because some are marking it as high quality but the quality is low.
04:12 As the information comes, we are informing you so that our public can be warned if there are risks in these.
04:22 Director Glenn Panganiba of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Thank you for your time.
04:28 Thank you very much. Good morning to all.
04:32 (Music)
04:33 (Music)