Marcos sets nationwide P41-P45 price cap on rice 

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has approved a recommendation to set a cap on rice prices nationwide amid recent increases in the price of the staple food item.

Executive Order No. 39 sets the price ceiling for regular milled rice at P41 per kilogram, while the cap for well-milled rice is P45 per kilogram. 

The recommendation was made by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade of Industry (DTI) after retail prices for both locally produced and imported rice climbed between 4% to 14% in August.

It was also issued following a sectoral meeting at Malacañang on August 29 where Marcos was briefed about the status of government initiatives to ensure sufficient rice supply in the country.

“The mandated price ceilings shall remain in full force and effect unless lifted by the president upon the recommendation of the Price Coordinating Council or the DA and the DTI,” the executive order stated.

Rice price hikes have recently “resulted in a considerable economic strain on Filipinos, particularly the underprivileged and marginalized,” leading the concerned agencies to recommend a price ceiling for the basic commodity, according to a release by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

The DA projects that the rice supply for the second half of the year would reach 10.15 million metric tons (MMT), 2.53 MMT of which is ending stock from the first semester while 7.20 MMT is the expected yield from local production and only 0.41 MMT is imported rice.

What’s driving soaring rice prices?

The price of the Filipino household staple has been rising due to a number of reasons cited by officials: among others, hoarding, agricultural damage wrought by recent typhoons and surging import prices.

While the DA and the DTI said that the country has enough stockpile of rice with the expected arrival of rice imports and surplus in local production, the government has also reported the “widespread practice of alleged illegal price manipulation” and “hoarding by opportunistic traders and collusion among industry cartels.”

International developments, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, have also been driving up the prices of other basic commodities.

As of August 28, the DA reported the local regular milled rice in markets in the National Capital Region ranged from P42 per kilogram to P55 per kilogram while local well-milled rice stood at P48 per kilogram to P56 per kilogram.

The National Economic and Development Authority also reported the rice inflation rate increased from 1.0% in January 2022 to 4.2% in July 2023.

The country’s economic managers said this could be attributed to the rising demand and tight supply due to, among others, efforts of other countries to buffer their supply in anticipation of El Niño and the above-mentioned international developments.

In a statement, farmers group AMIHAN said the price ceiling should not be used to "give Filipinos an illusion" similar to Marcos' campaign promise of lowering rice prices to P20 per kilogram. 

The farmer's group pointed out that two kilograms of rice sold with the new price ceiling would still amount to P82 or 13% of the minimum wage of P610. 

"Kanin pa lang ito," they said.