BY EUGENE Y.ADIONG
BACOLOD City – To counter the rising prices of commercial rice, the National Food Authority (NFA) has started releasing 10,000 sacks of well-milled rice to accredited retailers.
A kilo of commercial rice in Negros Occidental is currently priced from P45 to P49.
On the other hand, NFA regular milled rice sells at P27 a kilo and its well-milled rice is P32 a kilo, said Procopio Trabajo III, NFA provincial manager.
“This is quality but cheap rice,” Trabajo said.
The 10,000 sacks of well-milled NFA rice are part of the 600,000 bags that the grains agency imported for the province.
The release will also ensure a stable supply of rice for Negros, said Trabajo.
The stocks are expected to last until December this year.
In a related development, party-list representative Neri Colmenares, a Negros Occidental resident, urged the government to explain the increase in rice prices despite the country’s importation of from 800,000 to a million metric tons of the staple.
“We have lots of rice but its price is increasing. Why,” asked the Bayan Muna representative.
The situation is very similar to garlic, said Colmenares, senior deputy minority leader in the House of Representatives.
He urged President Benigno Aquino III to impose a price ceiling on rice, garlic and other basic commodities.
When there is unreasonable price increases during a calamity or emergency, or when there is widespread price manipulation, Section 7 of the Price Act allows the President to impose a price ceiling.
Citing his own research, Colmenares said commercial rice across the country now averages from P38 to P50 per kilo, higher than the mid-2013 price of between P30 to P35 per kilo.
He feared that the impending dry spell due to the El Niño phenomenon may further increase rice prices./PN
