MANILA — The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday said it monitored a price increase of P1.50 to P2 per kilo of rice following the recent onslaught of several typhoons.

Typhoon Falcon this week is strengthening the habagat, which is bringing rains over parts of Luzon. This came on the heels of Typhoon Egay, which spawned floods, left several areas under a state of calamity, and caused at least P2 billion in agricultural damage.

"Pagdating naman nitong July, binagyo tayo, tumataas ang presyo. Base doon sa ating price monitoring, hindi lang ho bigas, pati po yung ating mga gulay. Gumagalaw po yan, lalong-lalo na yung imported natin [na bigas]," DA Deputy Spokesperson Rex Estoperez said.

(This July, we were hit by typhoons. Based on our price monitoring, the prices of rice and vegetables went up, especially our imported rice.)

"Ang iba naman, tubo siyempre ang objective. Pakiusap lang naman namin sana sa kanila, kung ano lang nararapat na presyo… Doon sa atin pong bantay presyo, umaabot sa P1.50 to P2 per kilo po [ang itinaas ng bigas]," he told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.

(Some traders are only after profits. We are asking them to keep prices reasonable. In our monitoring, rice prices already increased by P1.50 to P2 per kilo.)

He also noted that the National Food Authority (NFA) could stabilize prices if it had enough rice in stock. But the NFA inventory is "low" after it failed to buy rice from farmers due to the low prices it offered, he said.

• COA: NFA failed to meet rice buffer requirement despite P7 billion subsidy

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and several agencies on Tuesday will tackle the possible need for imports to boost the supply of rice, Estoperez said.

Her urged the public to refrain from buying more rice than what they need.

"‘Pag nag-panic tayo, lalong magbibigay ng pressure sa supply at pressure din sa presyo," he said.

(If we panic, that will more pressure on the supply and prices.)

Watch more News on iWantTFC

Watch more News on iWantTFC