DA tightens food watch as inflation pressures build

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has tightened its food watch initiative following faster inflation.

Based on figures of the Philippine Statistics Authority, inflation rose to 2.5 percent, a 13-month high, in February. 

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said authorities are closely watching markets as geopolitical tensions threaten to disrupt global commodity flows.

“We are now taking steps to secure supply so food and farm inputs are sufficient in anticipation of price shocks that may follow the current situation in the Middle East,” he added.

The DA said that rice played a key role in February’s inflation dynamics. 

“Prices of the staple continued to decline year on year, but the pace of the drop slowed to 3.4 percent from the steeper 8.5 percent fall in January. This base effect contributed to the uptick in food inflation,” the department said.

“The deceleration comes more than a year after the agriculture department imposed a maximum suggested retail price on imported rice in late January 2025. The price was initially set at P58 per kilo and gradually reduced to P43 by July last year,” it added.

Citing figures from PSA, it noted price increases for several staples, including corn, flour, bread and other cereals, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits and milk.

“Food inflation alone accounted for 0.6 percentage point of the country’s overall February inflation,” the DA said.

Notably, inflation for the poorest households grew to 2.5 percent in February from 1.6 percent in January and 1.5 percent in the same month last year.

This sharper rise signals that household budget pressures could intensify if global risks worsen, the DA warned. — Brix Lelis