President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday said the mandated price ceiling for rice that was in place for about a month has helped stabilize the prices of the staple in the market.
In his YouTube vlog, Mr. Marcos cited the lifting of Executive Order (EO) No. 39, which imposed a P41 price ceiling on regular milled rice and a P45 price cap on well-milled rice as one of the main reasons for the recovery of the country’s supply.
President Marcos assured that necessary assistance to affected sectors will continue, including efforts to strengthen and enhance the country’s agricultural sector. He also said the government is exhausting all legal remedies against rice smugglers and hoarders.
The President emphasized that he is more concerned about the movement of prices of basic goods in the market than the movement of his ratings in the recent Pulse Asia survey.
“That is the true measure of whether we are doing the right thing and we can see it in the result, the stabilization of prices due to the price cap and the removal of the price cap and next to that are our other strategies to help our farmers so that they do not lose money,” the President said.
He said the government is doing everything to ensure the continuous stabilization and decrease of rice prices in the market.
Meanwhile, a Department of Agriculture official on Saturday said the agency sees no pending price movement as the Philippines has been able to secure enough rice supply.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the stable supply of rice began in August and is expected to last until next month.
“Our harvest this wet season was high, or a bumper. From the end of August, this September until October, until November, we expect that really – we do not expect any price hike,” de Mesa said during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.
The national inventory stocks are expected to reach 77 days this month, and increase up to 94 days in November due to the continued harvest this wet season, he added.
Rice importation is not yet included in the count, de Mesa said.
The government is also working on reducing the cost of production in the Philippines to ensure the affordable prices of basic commodities in the market.