MANILA — A farmers' group on Saturday expressed its concern about President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr's order putting a price ceiling on two rice types as this already pulled down the price of palay, placing them at a disadvantage.

Marcos, the Philippines' concurrent agriculture secretary, on Thursday signed the order mandating a price ceiling for regular milled rice at P41 per kilo and well-milled rice at P45 per kilo to rein in the soaring prices of the Filipino staple.

Malacañang said this would take effect on Tuesday next week, or on Sept. 5, 2023.

But the Federation of Free Farmers said they were "very worried" about the order, as farmers from Pampanga and Sultan Kudarat already reported a P3 per kilogram decrease in palay prices.

"Lalong bababa ang presyo ng palay. So kung kailan natin kailangan ng mas malaking production at maeengganyo ang mga magsasaka na magtanim — parang mali naman ang mensahe na ipinapalabas ng EO," said Raul Montemayor, FFF's national manager.

"Mga 20 percent reduction yan in one day. Yung paper value ng kanilang ani na hindi pa inaani, bumagsak na ng 20 percent," Montemayor added.

"Sana pag-isipan nila mabuti yung epekto nito dahil kung totoo na nagmamanipula sa merkado at mayroon namang sapat na suplay, dapat 'yun ang tugisin, hindi na farmer."

The EO has already affected how traders compute how much they would buy palay harvests, Montemayor said, so they would not be at a disadvantage.

• Marcos says gov't closely monitoring rice prices

"Negosyante 'yung trader, hindi magpapalugi 'yan. Kung alam niya ang takbuhan ng ceiling sa merkado ay P41, ko-computin niya yan pababa, magkano niya bibilhin yung palay?" he said.

"Doon niya iba-base ang bilihan ng palay sa magsasaka. Dahil bumaba ang price ceiling, bumababa ang presyo ng palay."

Based on the Department of Agriculture's monitoring as of Friday, prices of imported commercial rice ranged from P43 to P65 per kilo, while local rice retailed at P42 to P65 per kilo in Metro Manila.

IMPORTED COMMERCIAL RICE

• Special (Blue tag) - P 53-P65/kilo
• Premium (Yellow tag) - P53-P56/kilo
• Well-milled (White tag) - P43-P52/kilo
• Regular Milled (White tag) - NOT AVAILABLE

LOCAL COMMERCIAL RICE

• Special (Blue tag) - P54-P65/kilo
• Premium (Yellow tag) - P48-P60/kilo
• Well-milled (White tag) - P47-P57/kilo
• Regular Milled (White tag) - P412-P55/kilo

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual had clarified that some premium rice varieties were not covered by the order, which only applies to regular-milled and well-milled types.

• Violators of rice price ceiling to face penalties: DTI

"Mayroon tayong mga premium varieties na hindi covered ng price act. At sisiguraduhin din natin na hindi nami-mislabel iyong subject, iyong type ng rice na regular-milled rice o well-milled rice, hindi nadi-dislabel na premium type," Pascual said in a televised briefing Friday.

The Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Inc. had also criticized the EO, saying this would "never work" as rice prices were driven by the rules of supply and demand.

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Marcos, the Philippines' concurrent agriculture secretary, on Thursday signed the order mandating a price ceiling for regular milled rice at P41 per kilo and well-milled rice at P45 per kilo to rein in the soaring prices of the Filipino staple.