The Philippine House of Representatives will intensify efforts to address soaring food prices, starting with rice, followed by chicken, pork, and vegetable prices.
As the House of Representatives resumes session from the holiday break, the lead chairman of the House Murang Pagkain Supercommittee announced that the chamber will intensify efforts to address skyrocketing food prices, starting with rice, then focusing on chicken, pork, and vegetable cartels. The House Committee on Ways and Means chairman, Albay Rep.
Jose Clemente “Joey Sarte” Salceda said that the super panel will intensify its campaign to bring rice prices down, citing global rice prices reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at around US$427 to 500 per metric ton. \“We will intensify our fight to lower rice prices. As of the latest data from the Food and Agriculture Organization, global rice prices are at around US$427 to 500 per metric ton, which means the landed price should be at around P34 to 36 per kilo,” he added. “One of the main drivers of the uptrend, we suspect, is overpricing by supermarkets, which sell on a per kilo basis at as much as P70 per kilo. This is unacceptable. The highest quality Thai indica rice is just at P41 per kilo once landed and imposed all applicable duties and taxes,” Salceda said. \He dismissed claims by supermarket representatives and the Bureau of Plant Industry that consumer preferences are driving high prices. He emphasized that, based on import prices, current market rates for even the best-quality rice are unjustifiable. “Clearly, based on import prices, even the best quality rice should not be at these levels. I remind our resource persons that while I hesitated to cite invitees in contempt during the Christmas season, we are past that now,” he warned. \He also questioned the Department of Agriculture’s proposed price cap of P58 per kilo, pointing out that sellers could still enjoy P17 to P23 profit per kiloThe lawmaker said the supercommittee is also set to scrutinize efforts to stabilize meat and vegetable prices. Salceda flagged corn as a key issue, noting that its prices surged past general inflation by 2.1 percentage points last December, which directly affects meat prices. “We will also aim for long-term efforts to keep vegetable prices affordable and stable—so that surpluses are not harmful to farmers, while deficits are addressed,” he added. \Salceda said Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez has directed the committee to take all necessary measures to reduce food prices for Filipino families. Salceda affirmed this, setting a goal to maintain food inflation within the government’s 2 percent to 4 percent target for the year
FOOD PRICES RICE SUPERCOMMITTEE SALCEDA INFLATION
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