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While it is impossible to bring down the price to P20, former president Rodrigo Duterte said the increase in rice prices can be controlled if Marcos asks Congress for emergency powers.

There is no way for rice prices to dip to P20 per kilo as promised by President Marcos, according to former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“I feel bad for President Marcos. The rising prices will continue. There is no turning back,” Duterte said on Sunday, March 10, in an interview with his friend Apollo Quiboloy, a religious leader wanted in the US for sex trafficking of children, posted by vloggers.

The price of rice has steadily increased since last year. Premium rice retails at P67 per kilo while local well-milled rice is at P57 and local regular rice is at P53 per kilo.

While it is impossible to bring down the price to P20, Duterte said the increase in rice prices can be controlled if Marcos asks Congress for emergency powers.

“Not martial law. Just emergency powers,” Duterte said.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) hiked its import forecast for the Philippines by 200,000 metric tons from its estimate of 3.9 million MT in February due to a foreseen “smaller crop” harvest.

The country’s rice output in market year 2023-2024 is expected to settle at around 12.3 million MT, down two percent from last month’s projection and three percent from last year, the USDA said.

The USDA attributed that lower than earlier expected harvest to the detrimental impact of prolonged dry weather.

“Extended dry weather negatively impacted rice output in the fourth quarter, most notably in the northeastern Central Luzon region,” the agency said in its recent global grain market re-port.

Given the new rice import forecast, the Philippines is projected to remain the world’s largest importer of rice for the second consecutive year.

If the import forecast materializes, it would be the first time that the country’s rice imports reach four million MT.

It will not be surprising if rice imports this year breach the four million MT level since the country’s increase in local production has been unable to cope with the growth in population and demand, according to the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF).

The Department of Agriculture (DA)’s estimate of 200,000 MT of possible palay losses due to El Niño is “very conservative,” the group said.

“Any reduction in harvest will mean added pressure to import to fill in the supply gap,” FFF national manager Raul Montemayor told The Philippine STAR.

The primary factors to the country’s rice import arrivals would be the prevailing international prices as well as the possibility for importers to make a profit in competition against locally produced rice, he added.

Montemayor warned the country may face supply tightness if rice imports do not come in, especially during the lean months of July to September.

The DA earlier attributed the higher rice imports in the first two months of the year to the agreement between the government and private stakeholders to bring in stocks to ensure that the country has sufficient supply amid El Niño threats.

The country’s rice imports in January and February skyrocketed by almost 85 percent year-on-year to 728,254.49 MT, from the 394,553.664 MT recorded in the same period last year, based on Bureau of Plant Industry data.

The Philippine Rice Industry Stakeholders Movement earlier explained that rice imports this year have become “more economically favorable” as global rice prices have been on a “downward trend.”

The increase in import volume is also meant to ensure the country’s food security, particularly sufficient rice supply, amid threats of El Niño on food production, the group noted.

Source : onenews