The holiday season has arrived, bringing lower rice prices in major public markets all over the National Capital Region.
This December, the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Rice For All program offers Filipinos well-milled rice at only ₱42/kilo. The program comes in response to the surge in rice prices in spite of reduced tariffs on rice imports and agreements with market heads in Metro Manila.
According to DA-Bantay Presyo or price monitoring, imported well-milled rice as of Wednesday starts at ₱45 to as much as ₱52 per kilo, imported regular-milled rice is at ₱42 to ₱51 per kilo, while local well-milled sells at ₱42 to ₱53 per kilo, and local regular-milled is between ₱40 to ₱48 a kilo.
The program is made possible through coordination with farmer cooperatives, Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), or market masters. DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the partnership with the FTI will ensure sustainability and sufficiency for the program.
“We'll start in (the) National Capital Region and then unti-unti sa mga probinsya (then, little by little, in the provinces),” he said, adding that the recently-approved ₱5-billion augmenting fund for the program will be used.
De Mesa also said the agriculture department will also be investigating possible profiteering among retailers and looking into apt responses.
