A HOUSE leader on Wednesday slammed the Department of Agriculture (DA) under Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. for setting the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for rice at ₱58 per kilo, calling the figure “unrealistic” and “a disservice to consumers.”
Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin expressed frustrations during the hearing of the Quinta Comm, also known as the Murang Pagkain Supercommittee, chaired by Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda.
Garin accused the DA of failing to address key issues in the rice supply chain that have driven up prices. The panel decided to invite Laurel to the next hearing.
“Why does the DA have an MSRP of ₱58? What planet did it come from? Garin asked during her interpellation, stressing that the MSRP should have been lower after the price of regular milled rice dropped.
Salceda questioned DA Undersecretary Asis Perez on the basis of the P58 per kilo MSRP.
“My God, that is too high!” Salceda said, noting that the cost of imported rice has gone down to between P44 and P47, while the buying price for palay (unmilled rice) has fallen as well.
Garin cited an inspection and consultation with the wholesalers in Bulacan where Laurel announced in the that they will bring down the price of rice to P45 or P49.
Garin stressed that this did not happen.
Sultan Kudarat Rep. Honacio Suansing Jr. agreed with Garin. “We all agree, the rice miller there, importers, traders that we will lower the price of rice to P40 and the supply is unlimited. We are done with that. In the NCR (National Capital Region) area, there should be plenty of P40-rice being sold at Kadiwa stores and other DA outlets. That was the agreement last December,” Suansing recalled.
The price of regular rice is being sold at P37 to P38 in the market.
“How can we control the price of rice when the agency that is supposed to guide us is pegging it at a high price?” Garin asked.
Garin cited reports showing that the landed cost of imported rice ranged from P35 to P39 per kilo, significantly lower than the DA’s MSRP.
Perez defended the P58-MSRP as part of a pilot program for Metro Manila, stating that it was designed to address higher rice prices in the area, reportedly ranging from P62 to P64 per kilo.
Perez said the P58-price “is based on the landed cost of imported rice, plus a reasonable mark-up for all those involved in the distribution chain.”
“Let me clarify, Mr. Chair, that the MSRP is a pilot program that will implement only in Metro Manila where we see prices of P62, P64, P60,”Perez said.
However, Garin dismissed this explanation, calling it a “wrong solution” that fails to tackle the root causes of high rice prices.