With the National Food Authority’s intensified procurement and presence in the market, prices of commercial rice have started to decrease. At the Intercity in Bulacan, prices of commercial premium quality rice were monitored to have gone down from P1,920/bag to P1,880/bag; medium quality rice from P1,820/bag to P1,780/sack; imported premium quality at P1,800/bag to P1,750/bag.
NFA Administrator Orlan A. Calayag said the food agency will continue to monitor markets especially those with price increases in the past weeks. Calayag said the NFA will ensure that no NFA rice will be overpriced or diverted and sold as commercial rice. Market supervisors were dispatched in addition to monitoring teams that are already in place.
The food agency will continue to maintain its monitoring teams in these markets to ensure the presence of affordable, good quality NFA rice. The NFA sells regular-milled rice (RMR) at P27/kg and well-milled rice (WMR) at P32/kg.
Calayag warned that the government will not hesitate to file charges of economic sabotage against those who will be found manipulating the current rice market situation.
The Administrator reiterated that there is no shortage of the staple as national rice inventory is recorded at 1.7 million metric tons or 34,282,000 bags, enough to last for 51 days.
The NFA also reported that it is starting to intensify palay procurement in various areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao that have started to harvest their main crop. This will augment the current government rice stocks.
