Farmers in Barangay Sumapang Matanda, Malolos, Bulacan plant seedlings in their farm lots at the start of the second planting season Thursday, September 14, 2023. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA -- The Department of Agriculture on Friday rejected a proposal for government to implement a price freeze on basic commodities including rice for the duration of the El Nino phenomenon, saying that the measure could do more harm than good. 

DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa on Friday said only several areas in the country have declared a state of calamity due to El Nino. 

“Normally nagkakaroon ng price freeze kapag nagkaroon ng declaration ng state of emergency. Doon naman sa mga lugar na very specific na mayroon talagang tinamaan, kasi hindi naman buong bansa ay mayroong apektado ng El Niño – makita natin mostly iyong western section ng ating bansa ang naapektuhan. At kaniya-kaniya, iyong mga apektadong lugar na ito ay nagkaroon na ng declaration ng state of emergency,” the official explained.

(Normally there is a price freeze when there is a declaration of a state of emergency. There are very specific areas that have been really hit, because not the whole country is affected by El Niño - mostly the western section of our country has been affected. And individually, these affected areas have already had a declaration of a state of emergency.) 

“So, kung idadamay iyong buong bansa na hindi naman apektado ng El Niño, baka magkaroon ng problema doon sa ibang area,” he added. 

(So, there might be a problem in other areas because the entire country  is not affected by El Niño.) 

According to the Agriculture Department, agricultural damage brought by El Nino has already reached almost P6 billion, with more than 80,000 Filipino farmers affected. 

Agri damage due to El Niño hits P5.9 billion

“Ang pinakamalaki rito iyong ating mga magsasaka ng palay – more than 60,000 na; at iyong naapektuhan na sakahan naman lalo na rito sa palayan ay umabot ng 58,000 hectares na,” De Mesa said. 

(The biggest number here are composed of rice farmers - more than 60,000; and affected farms, especially the paddy fields, have reached 58,000 hectares.) 

The area, however, is still small compared to the effects of the worst El Nino in Philippine history experienced from 1997 to 1998, where 370,000 hectares were affected. 

“Pero in terms of commercial value malaki (ang epekto ng El Nino ngayon) dahil mas mahal ang palay ngayon – nagkakahalaga siya ng P23 to P30; noong mga panahon na iyon ay napakamura pa ng palay kaya mas malaki iyong value, but in terms of area and volume ay ‘di hamak na mas maliit kaysa noong mga naunang naapektuhan tayo ng El Niño,” he explained. 

(But in terms of commercial value, it is bigger (this time) because rice is more expensive now – it costs P23 to P30; During those times, rice was still very cheap, so its value was greater, but in terms of area and volume, it was significantly smaller than when we were previously affected by El Niño.) 

 De Mesa, meanwhile, said that the Agriculture Department is supportive of calls to amend the Rice Tariffication Law to allow the National Food Authority to sell cheaper rice. 

House Speaker Romualdez said in an earlier interview that they are eyeing the proposed amendment, adding that they are targeting to reduce the retail price of rice to P30 per kilo from the current range of P40-P50 per kilo. 

“Ah, sinusuportahan namin itong ganitong initiative ng ating Kongreso especially ng ating House Speaker. Importante kasi na magkaroon din ng intervention lalo na kung talagang masyadong mahal. Under Section 10 ng Price Act ay kayang gawin iyon hindi ng NFA kung hindi ng kagawaran,” De Mesa said. 

(Ah, we support this initiative of our Congress especially our House Speaker. It's important to have an intervention too, especially as it has gotten really too expensive. Under Section 10 of the Price Act, only the department can do that, but not NFA.) 

“Noong huling pagpupulong ng NFA Council ay napag-usapan na magtakda rin ng presyo kung magkano ang bibilhin kasi normally naka-peg iyon at P25 – masyadong mura iyon at masyadong malulugi ang NFA. So, itinakda na less than 20 percent than the prevailing market price na itinakda ng Philippine Statistics Authority,” he added. 

(During the last meeting of the NFA Council the price of rice was discussed.
But at P25, it will be too cheap and will be a loss for the NFA. The price that was set was less than 20% than the prevailing market price set by the Philippine Statistics Authority.) 

This means that if the retail price of rice is P50 per kilo in the market, the NFA would sell it at P40, from the original cost of P37 to P38, De Mesa said.

“So mura iyong bigas at the same time hindi lugi ang NFA – it’s a win-win solution para sa ating bansa at para rin doon sa ating mga kababayan na naghahangad ng mas murang bigas.” 

(So the rice is cheap and at the same time the NFA is not a loss – it's a win-win solution for our country and also for our countrymen who want cheaper rice.) 

The Department of Agriculture expects the country’s rice harvest for the first quarter of 2024 to be at 4.68 million metric tons, down by 100,000 metric tons from the 4.78 million MT year on year. 

“Pero kung titingnan natin iyong kabuuan na tina-target natin, last year we harvested 20.06 million metric tons. Ang target natin ngayong taon na ito is 20.48 million metric tons. So kung nabawasan siya ng 100,000 – mayroon pa rin tayong mga buffer na mga 300,000 metric tons na puwede pa nating additionally ma-harvest pagdating ng wet season,” De Mesa said. 

(But if we look at the total volume that we are targeting, last year we harvested 20.06 million metric tons. Our target this year is 20.48 million metric tons. So if this is reduced by 100,000 – we still have a buffer of about 300,000 metric tons that we can additionally harvest when the wet season arrives.) 

“Ang kagandahan rin ngayon ay maganda iyong numero natin pagdating sa imports. Iyong huling bahagi ng Abril ay umabot na sa 1.6 million metric tons ang ating importation – this is within the targeted limit natin na 300 to 350 thousand metric tons kada buwan,” he added. 

(The good thing now is that our numbers are good when it comes to imports. In the last part of April, our importation reached 1.6 million metric tons – this is within our targeted limit of 300 to 350 thousand metric tons per month).

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