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The Philippines stated yesterday an emergency for food security to lower the rice price, of which civil servants said they remained high despite the cuts of last year at the rates on imported rice.
In a statement, agricultural secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel said that the move was inspired by the “extraordinary” rise in local rice prices, and came on the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC).
“This emergency enables us to release rice buffer shares of the National Food Authority to stabilize prices and to ensure that rice, a basic food for millions of filipinos, remains accessible to consumers,” he said in the statement.
The Ministry of Agriculture said it intends to release 300,000 tons Van rice that is currently stored by the National Food Authority (NFA) at a speed of 30,000 tons per month.
These rice stocks will be sold to government agencies, local authorities and points of sale under the Kadiwa NG Pangulo of the government, or “rice for everyone”, program to “stabilize rice prices and protect consumers at further price increases,” said the DA. The release of rice stocks will also enable the NFA to empty warehouses on time for the harvest season.
The prices of the basic grain have risen in the Philippines since July 2023 and set political challenges for the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. According to the DA’s statement, the prices of regular ground rice and well-made rice in December 2024 were about 19-20 percent higher than before the increase in July 2023.
These price increases came despite the fact that Marcos carried out an executive order in June last year, reducing the rate on imported rice from 35 percent to 15 percent. In announcing the orderMarcos said that the updated tariff schedule “aims to increase the offer, manage the prices and to temper the inflationary pressure of different raw materials, in accordance with the Filipino national interest and the objective to protect the purchasing power of Filipinos.”
The implementation of the reduced rate and the other efforts of the government to make rice more accessible, including the Kadiwa NG Pangulo, helped selling prices to a certain extent last year. But as the US Department of Agriculture noted the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in September, retail prices “generally continue to be increased compared to the same period last year despite rate reductions.”
In addition to explaining the emergency situation for food security, the Filipino star also reported that the DA Plans to gradually reduce The price limit on imported rice in Metro Manila Markets, which is currently set on P58 ($ 0.99) per kilogram. From 5 February, imported rice will be covered on P55 ($ 0.94) per kilogram. De DA wants to lower the price in March with P49 ($ 0.84).
The Philippines is the largest buyer of rice in the world and imports around 4 million tonnes of the staple per year to make the shortage in local production. The majority comes from Vietnam, which agreed at the beginning of last year to provide the Philippines with an additional 1.5 million tonnes of white rice against a “competitive and affordable price” for each of the next five years.
According to the FAS, the country is expected to produce 12.69 million tons of ground rice in 2024-25, while consuming an expected 17.3 million tonnes.