Different types of rice are sold at the AGora Market in San Juan City on May 7, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA -- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addressed the high prices of basic commodities in his third  State of the Nation Address (SONA).

"The hard lesson of this last year has made it very clear that whatever current data proudly bannering our country as among the best-performing in Asia means nothing to a Filipino who is confronted by the price of rice at P45-65 per kilo," Marcos said as he opened his speech.

"Bagamat maganda ang mga estadistikang ito, wala itong kabuluhan sa ating kababayan na hinaharap ang realidad na mataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin lalo na ang pagkain, lalo’t higit ang bigas," he said. "Hindi natin binabalewala ang inyong mga hinaing at hirap na dinaranas." 

Food inflation at the national level rose to 6.5 percent in June 2024 from 6.1 percent in May 2024. Rice inflation slowed slightly to 22.5 percent in June, from 23 percent in May. 

Inflation slows to 3.7 percent in June

Marcos said the Philippines still needed to import rice despite 20 million tons of palay being harvested last year. 

“Ngunit lokal na produksiyon pa rin ang atina mas bibigyan ng halaga," Marcos said.

"Because of compelling emergency reasons such as illegal price manipulation by hoarders and smuggling, we were constrained to temporarily implement mandated price ceilings on rice," he noted. "Tinitiyak ko sa ating mga magsasaka, at sa buong sektor ng agrikultura, na ang mga ito ay panggipitang solution lamang." 

P20 kilo rice? Marcos promise weighed vs inflation as SONA nears

The president said the government distributed seedlings and fertilizer to help farmers boost their output. 

He added that government is now ready to distribute vaccines against the African swine fever to help boost meat production.

DA targets to roll out African swine fever vaccine in September

Marcos also said that P2.7 billion worth of smuggled agriculture and fishery products were seized and that the confiscated products were distributed to the poorest Filipinos.

Marcos said 1,200 kilometers of farm-to-market roads would be constructed by the end of the year nationwide. 

He said government would irrigate about 45,000 hectares of new agricultural land this year, and restore irrigation to almost 39,000 hectares of land. 

Marcos was Agriculture Secretary until he appointed fishing magnate Francisco Tiu Laurel to replace him in November.