MANILA, Philippines - Prices of commercial rice have started to decline as the government intensified procurement of the food staple and boosted its presence in the market, the National Food Authority (NFA) said yesterday.
Based on the NFA’s monitoring conducted in Bulacan, prices of commercial premium quality rice went down to P1,880 per bag from P1,920 per bag.
The price of medium quality rice has fallen to P1,780 per bag from P1,820 per bag, and imported premium quality rice is now at P1,750 per bag from P1,800 per bag, the NFA pointed out.
NFA administrator Orlan Calayag said they would continue to monitor markets, particularly those with price increases in the past weeks.
“The NFA will ensure that no NFA rice will be overpriced or diverted and sold as commercial rice,†Calayag said.
The NFA sells regular-milled rice at P27 per kilogram and well-milled rice at P32 per kg.
Market supervisors have also been dispatched in addition to monitoring teams that are already in place, Calayag said.
Last week, rice prices rose by P2 per kilo in public markets in Bulacan and by P3 to P4 per kilo in Pampanga.
The higher prices were seen amid reports of rice shortage in these areas.
Calayag warned that the government will file charges of economic sabotage against those found manipulating the current market situation.
He also assured the public of sufficient rice supply.
Calayag said the national rice inventory is recorded at 1.7 million metric tons or 34,282,000 bags, enough to last for 51 days.
To augment government rice stocks, the NFA is starting to intensify its palay procurement in various parts of the country.
This occurred as many farmers have started to harvest their main crop.– With Edu Punay