PRICE CEILING. A retail store in Tacloban City showing prices of regular milled, well-milled, and premium rice in Eastern Visayas. The first two weeks of price cap imposition have brought down the cost of rice in major markets in Eastern Visayas, the Department of Agriculture regional field office here reported on Monday (Sept. 18, 2023). (PNA photo by Sarwell Meniano)
TACLOBAN CITY - The first two weeks of price cap imposition has brought down the cost of rice in major markets in Eastern Visayas, Department of Agriculture (DA) regional field office here reported on Monday.
DA-Eastern Visayas regional technical director for operations Larry Sultan said in a phone interview there were notable compliance of rice price cap in major markets of Catbalogan City in Samar, and partial compliance in the cities of Tacloban and Ormoc in Leyte and Calbayog City in Samar.
The price of regular milled rice (RMR) went down to PHP41 per kg on Sept. 15 from PHP49 per kg on Sept. 8. For well-milled rice, the cost dropped to PHP45 from PHP52, based on the report of the DA-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division.
Executive Order (EO) 39, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and issued on Aug. 31, directed rice retailers to sell well-milled rice at PHP45 and regular-milled rice at PHP41.
“While not all rice retailers in the major markets are compliant with the price ceilings, there has been improvements in the price of regular milled rice (RMR) and well-milled rice (WMR) in some major markets compared to the initial week of implementation of EO 39,” Sultan added.
In some areas of the region, some retailers failed to follow the price ceiling, but their selling price was lower than the PHP49 per kg price before the issuance of EO, according to Sultan.
The official said they regularly monitor the prices at major markets in the region to determine the cause of the surging price changes during the weeks' effectivity of EO 39.
The official said the DA has been conducting regular monitoring of the major capital markets in the region to investigate the cause of the surging price changes during the weeks to the enforcement of the EO.
“The DA, together with other concerned national government agencies will continue to monitor the market to track the compliance of rice retailers with the mandated price ceilings and ensure that the public can avail of affordable RMR and WMR. The public is also advised that the imposed price ceilings do not include the prices for imported commercial and premium rice,” he said.
The departments of social welfare, trade, and the interior; the Philippine National Police and the National Food Authority are tasked to monitor the rice price cap. (PNA)
