Restore, strengthen NFA’s power to regulate rice: group
A rice stakeholders group is calling on the government to restore and strengthen the National Food Authority’s (NFA) power to regulate rice as the governnment is implenting a price ceiling on the food staple.
Last week, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. issued Executive Order No.39 which mandated that the price cap for regular milled rice is P41 per kilogram and P45 per kilogram for well-milled rice. It took effect last Monday.
In an interview with dzBB, Philippine Rice Industry Stakeholders Movement (PRISM) co-founder Orly Manuntag said that the authority of the NFA to buy rice and provide a buffer stock should be restored since rice retailers are suffering major losses due to the government’s imposition of a rice price cap.
“It’s sad because the rice industry is in the limelight again…the retailers are experiencing significant losses because of this,” Manuntag said.
“Here’s how we computed the losses. For example, if the seller’s capital is P50 and they have to sell the rice at P45 per kilo, they lose P5 for every kilo. Now, if you convert that to one cavan, you multiply it by 50 kilograms, then you lose P250,” he explained.
“If a retailer sells 20 sacks per day on average, they would lose P5,000 per day. That includes the rent for the stall. Then if you add the cost of their food and manpower, that would amount to a loss of P7,000. Now, if you lose P7,000 per day, you multiply to one week, that would P49,000. If it lasts for two weeks, retailers would lose P98,000. That’s pitiful,” he added.
Manuntag said the surging rice prices were due to the rice export ban in India.
“What happened in the rice industry is that the amount of capital increased locally and internationally. When India banned rice exports, the price of rice in Vietnam and Thailand, which are our source countries, increased…so that was the effect. Myanmar followed and in our country, the price of unhusked rice increased from P20 to P32. So we had a disruption in our supply chain,” said Manuntag, who is also the spokesperson of the Grains Retailers' Confederation of the Philippines, Inc. (Grecon).
Manuntag said all stakeholders of the rice supply chain and the government should talk about how to address the high rice prices.
“Everyone in the rice supply chain should have a talk. Then, with the intervention of the government, they will set the price of unhusked rice (palay) that will not cause profit losses for farmers when they buy it and will encourage them to plant again. Then, they will also talk about the amount of profit the traders, the millers, and the retailers should have,” he said.
Manuntag also urged lawmakers to amend the Rice Tarrification Law, which lifts the restriction on the quantity of rice importation.
“That law should be amended. Maybe, in aid of legislation, our lawmakers would help us by mandating the government to buy at least P10 percent of the harvest of farmers. So that the National Food Authority would not have a hard time looking for sources of aid in times like this. At least they would have a buffer stock of 10 percent, that would be good and that’s already a lot. That’s what other countries are doing,” he said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
