The promise of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo is unlikely to be achieved in the next two years, officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.
DA Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, and Regulations Mercedita Sombilla said the P20 per kilo rice target will be difficult to achieve.
She made the statement as a response to a question from Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel during the hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations on DA’s proposed budget of P167.5 billion in 2024.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman also asked the DA officials about the President’s assurance of rice security in the country by 2030.
"At what amount will the price of rice stabilize, because according to the President, it will stabilize. So at what amount?" he said.
DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said they have "not figured that out", but he noted that it is possible as they are currently looking for solutions "but not at this point of time."
Panganiban said that events in the past have affected the achievement of food security in the country, such as incomplete or inadequate irrigation projects, the conversion of rice lands into subdivisions, and facilities such as market roads and equipment like harvesters and threshers, which are "not in full bloom."
Lagman expressed dismay, saying it was a campaign promise that "could have made the president win" in the elections.
"It is bad enough that the current price of rice is way above the campaign promise of P20 per kilo, but it is just as bad that the department has no estimate at what price it will stabilize," he said.
