Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. promised to further reduce rice prices following the release of the latest inflation data which highlighted the positive impact of lower rice costs on the lives of poor Filipinos.
On Thursday, the Department of Agriculture rolled out the Rice-for-All program in several public markets across Metro Manila to provide affordable rice options and curb high retail prices. The initiative, part of the KADIWA ng Pangulo program, offers unlimited quantities of the food staple at P40 per kilo. This move seeks to help lower retail prices, which remain high despite easing global rice prices and substantial tariff reductions.
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. ordered duties on imported rice lowered to 15 percent from 35 percent since July to ease the burden on consumers, particularly the poor, as well as drive down inflation to facilitate monetary policy easing. Lower interest rates is expected to release more funds to drive investments and job generation.
“If international rice prices continue to ease, the peso remains stable, and tariffs stay low, we would most likely see the price of well-milled rice decline further in the coming months,” Sec. Tiu Laurel said. “The DA stands ready to intervene in the market if rice prices remain unrealistically high, specially with the additional P5 billion provided by President Marcos to support the Rice-for-All and the P29 [per kilo of rice] program,” he added.
The Philippine Statistics Authority on Thursday also cited the positive effect of DA’s actions in helping lower rice prices.
Economic Planning Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa, in a news conference on November inflation data, noted that rice inflation had eased to 5.1 percent in November, down from 9.6 percent in October. However, this improvement was partially offset by higher vegetable prices, which were affected by a series of typhoons, as well as increased pork prices due to the lingering effects of African Swine Fever.
Mapa highlighted the impact of the Rice-for-All program in enhancing the purchasing power of low-income consumers. “Rice inflation has been on a downtrend since January,” Mapa said. “The retail prices for regular, well-milled, and special rice are also declining. This is good news for households.”
He added that lower rice prices helped reduce inflation for the bottom 30 percent of income households, who allocate a larger portion of their budgets to food. For every P100 spent, families in this group allocate about P18 to rice—double the amount spent by the average Filipino family.
Inflation for lower-income households slowed to 2.9 percent in November, down from 3.4 percent in October and 4.9 percent in November 2023. ###
