MANILA – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is gearing up to propose strategies to tackle the rising rice prices in the market amidst the ongoing enforcement of the mandated rice price ceiling.
During a press conference at Malacañang, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan announced their plans to convene a meeting to explore options for ensuring affordable staple foods without negatively impacting the agricultural sector.
“The mandated price ceiling – when that order was issued — that was very clear. It’s temporary. So, as soon as we can see a better option of addressing that and we have achieved already the objective then, it should be lifted,” Balisacan stated.
“We will meet soon to recommend other options. There are, as I said earlier, there are options, for example, we have made mentioned about reducing the tariff while world prices are rising,” he added.
This announcement followed Balisacan’s response to a query during the ninth NEDA board meeting chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. regarding the potential lifting of the mandated rice price ceiling.
President Marcos initially approved the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recommendation to impose the mandated price ceilings on regular and well-milled rice through Executive Order (EO) No. 39.
Under the EO, the mandated price cap on regular milled rice is PhP41.00 per kilogram while the mandated price ceiling on well-milled rice is PhP45.00, effective since September 5.
To mitigate the impact of the mandated rice price cap, various government agencies have provided PhP15,000 cash assistance to small rice retailers.
Balisacan reiterated that the enforced rice price ceiling is temporary and will be lifted as soon as the government devises an alternative solution. One option under consideration is temporarily reducing tariffs, even if it results in a significant loss for the government.
“The objective: nobody should be worse off. The only worst off here would be the government because there will be less revenue from the tariffs. But, you know, what is a few billions of losses compared to greater suffering of our population from high prices,” he emphasized.
Balisacan clarified that NEDA would not propose lifting the mandated rice price ceilings but rather focus on examining various options and current situations to address escalating basic commodity prices.
NEDA is closely monitoring global rice price movements, particularly the impact on local prices and export volumes from major exporting countries like India, which recently imposed restrictions on rice exports. Other key exporting countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, are also under surveillance.
“These are the ones causing prices in the global markets to rise, and initially, that was induced by this expectation that El Niño will continue to intensify and will be there until the first quarter of next year,” Balisacan explained. “So, you’re looking at a long period at elevated prices in the global market.”
He emphasized that the NEDA would not specifically discuss the rice price ceiling. (with report from Presidential Communications Office)
