MANILA – President Marcos is not giving up on attaining the P20 per kilo of rice, saying there is always a chance for it.
“May chance lagi ‘yan (It always has a chance),” Marcos said when asked if the P20 per kilogram of rice is still feasible during a media interview in Zamboanga City on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
He explained that it will be possible once local production of rice improves.
“Kung maayos natin ang production natin at maging maayos, hindi na tayo masyadong bagyuhin at yung mga tulong na ibinibigay natin sa mga farmer ay magamit na nila (If we are able to fix our production, if we would no longer be hit by typhoons, and farmers would use the assistance given to them),” Marcos added.
The President said there are factors happening outside the Philippines that are directly affecting the prices of basic commodities in the country, prompting the government and the market to adjust.
He emphasized that it would be easy for the government to make the necessary adjustments once everything normalizes.
“Ngunit, kapag talaga nagawa natin ang cost of production binaba natin ay bababa rin ang presyo ng bigas. Bababa rin lahat basta’t mas mataas ang ani kahit na pwede nating ipagpantay ang presyo (But if we can bring down the cost production, the prices of rice will also go down. Everything will go down as long as we have higher harvest, we can adjust the price),” Marcos said.
“So, pagka naging mas normal na ang sitwasyon, malaking pag-asa talaga natin na ibababa natin ang presyo ng bigas (So, once the situation normalizes, we have a big chance to bring the prices of rice down),” he assured.
Early this month, Marcos set a price ceiling of P41 per kilogram for regular milled rice and P45 per kilogram for well-milled rice.
On Monday, Sept. 18, the National Food Authority (NFA) Council set a new price range for buying palay in response to the changing production and market conditions.
The buying price for dry palay is now at P23 from P19, and P19 for the wet palay from the previous P16.
In August this year, Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla said the promise to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo is not going to be achievable soon, given the several issues affecting the agriculture sector such as fertilizer cost, fuel cost, the ongoing El Niño, and the typhoons that hit the country.
Marcos made the promise for a P20 per kilo of rice under his administration, which he pitched during his presidential bid in 2022.
In November last year as he launched the nationwide Kadiwa sa Pasko caravan, he declared that the government is nearing its goal to bring down the price of rice in the country to P20.
However, in February this year, he backtracked saying, it will take a long time for this to come to fruition.
“It’s a long road there, it’s not going to be easy,” he then said. (MB)
