MANILA — The prices of rice and palay are "expected to stabilize" as the harvest season for the Filipino staple begins this month, Malacañang has said, with a lawmaker describing the soaring rice prices as "artificial."

Citing projections gathered by the Philippine Rice Information System as of mid-August, Press Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Sunday that palay yields could reach up to 2 million metric tons (MMT) by the end of September and 3 million MMT in October.

• Lawmaker: PH has enough rice, no reason for prices to increase

This data was presented by Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr in a report, Garafil said.

For his part, Sebastian said they expect to produce around "more than 11 million metric tons" of palay until December.

"Barring strong typhoons in the remaining months of the year, we hope to hit the 20-million MT level for 2023 national palay output," he said, based on a Palace release.

Government is also positioning high-yielding seeds to clustered rice farmers, as well as fertilizers, biofertilizers, soil ameliorants, farm machinery, financial, and marketing support to prepare for the dry season and the upcoming El Niño.

The statement from the Palace came amid criticisms from stakeholders, groups, and some lawmakers about the President's executive order which caps regular milled rice at P41 per kilogram and well-milled rice at P45 a kilogram.

While this move somehow helped consumers, this was an unwelcome development to small-scale retailers, prompting the government to provide subsidies of up to P15,000 to those affected.

• Rice retailers hope for 2nd tranche of aid should price cap last longer

The Grains Retailers' Confederation of the Philippines, Inc. said over Radyo 630 that local farmers and millers have started to deliver locally produced rice to the market, but the peak season will be between the end of September until October.

While the retailers' group was optimistic that prices may normalize once more locally produced rice reach the market, it warned that a second tranche of financial aid could be needed should the price cap on rice last longer.

HIGH RICE PRICES 'ARTIFICIAL' - SALCEDA

Meanwhile, House Ways and Means panel chair Rep. Joey Salceda alleged the high rice prices could be artificial, as this was "driven by market speculation and rice traders driven by greed."

"Now, we have to manage our rice inventory better to avoid fueling the speculation here and in the global rice market,” said Salceda in a release.

The lawmaker said India's export ban and the fear of El Niño contributed to the high cost of the grain.

For his part, House Committee on Agriculture and Food Mark Enverga lauded government-led warehouse inspections to curb the commodity's possible hoarding.

Marcos Jr's price cap on rice, for Enverga, was also a "well-calculated move."

It has also "been instrumental in upholding stability in this vital commodity, even amidst the turbulent tides of the global market," said the lawmaker.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Rosanna "Ria" Vergara has suggested that the National Food Authority (NFA) should maintain rice stocks that it can use to stabilize prices if there are signs of price manipulation. He said NFA should also be given back the mandate to buy rice from farmers and sell subsidized NFA rice to make rice more accessible.

Earlier, Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas described the price ceiling on rice as "useless" if the government continues imports and rice cartels were not stopped.

• Violators of rice price ceiling to face penalties: DTI

"Sa gobyerno na mismo nanggaling na pansamantala lang ang price ceiling - pampahupa lang 'to ng gutom at galit ng mamamayan. Kaya dapat ibasura na ang liberalisasyon ng bigas at magbigay ng sapat na production subsidy sa mga magsasaka," Brosas said.

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, meanwhile, had said the administration should have acted sooner when rice prices started going up.

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