MANILA (UPDATED) — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Friday said government is "closely monitoring" rice prices, which topped P50 per kilo in some wet markets.

Marcos, who is also the concurrent agriculture chief, said high farmgate prices and some imported farm inputs contributed to the price increase.

“Binabantayan namin nang mabuti ang pag-supply ng ating bigas at pagbantay sa tumataas na presyo ng bigas," he said in a video message.

"Mayroon naman tayong balita na nagsimula na ang pag-aani sa Nueva Ecija, sa Isabela, at saka sa North Cotabato. Kaya’t ito’y magdadagdag sa supply natin," he added.

(We are closely monitoring the rice supply and its rising prices. We received news that the harvest has started in Nueva Ecija, Isabela, and North Cotabato. This will increase our supply.)

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The Philippines aims to harvest 11.5 million metric tons of rice in the second half of the year, said Dr. Leo Sebastian, undersecretary for rice industry development of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

"This would breach the 20-million MT total national palay production, making it a record, being the highest in the country’s history,” Sebastian said in a Palace news release.

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Rice demand from July to December this year is projected at 7.76 million metric tons, according to DA data.

Based on the agency's monitoring as of Thursday, prices of imported commercial rice ranged from P46 to P65 per kilo, while local rice retailed at P40 to P62 per kilo in Metro Manila.

IMPORTED COMMERCIAL RICE

• -Special (Blue tag) - P 50-P65/kilo
• -Premium (Yellow tag) - P47-P56/kilo
• -Well-milled (White tag) - P46-P47/kilo
• -Regular Milled (White tag) - NOT AVAILABLE

LOCAL COMMERCIAL RICE

• -Special (Blue tag) - P50-P62
• -Premium (Yellow tag) - P46-P60
• -Well-milled (White tag) - P40-P57
• -Regular Milled (White tag) - P41-P55

GROUP: CONSIDER THE TIMING

Meanwhile, DA officials did market visits earlier in the day to check on price of rice.

This is part of their regular price monitoring in 13 wet markets across Metro Manila. They said they saw large volumes of rice in stalls, and that on their level, they would say rice is still sufficient.

"Wala naman pong nakikitang shortage, sufficient ang supply base sa regular report, wala po kaming nakikitang dahilan para mangamba," said Junibert De Sagun, director of DA's Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service.

(We did not see any shortage. The supply is sufficient based on our regular report. We do not see any reason to worry.)

"As far as yung nakita namin kanina, marami pong nakalagay na bigas sa mga tindahan nila," Sagun added.

(A lot of rice is still in their stalls.)

The Federation of Free Farmers, for its part, said it was important to consider the timing of imports and the projected harvests.

“Yes, we have enough stocks at the moment, but these stocks are in short supply and rapidly thinning out. This explains the spike in prices," said Raul Montemayor, national manager of the Federation of Free Farmers.

"Some imports will reportedly come in soon. Some early harvests will occur in August and September. But will they come on time before stocks run out? At best, it will be a photo finish," he added.

— with a report from Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News