Group bats for efficient price control

BANTAY Palengke, an advocacy network on food and household goods, voiced their support for President Marcos’ Executive Order No. 39 which imposes a nationwide price ceiling on rice.

According to Bantay Palengke Convenor Lester Codog, “This is a timely recommendation from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry as many Filipino family budgets are currently strained due to the surge in the price of rice. We are hoping this will be effectively implemented while we wait for the local harvest season to commence. We expect that once local rice farmers reap their produce, the price of rice will stabilize.”

Through EO 39, the Marcos government set nationwide price caps on rice (P41 per kilo for regular milled and P45 for well-milled rice).

“The price ceilings are very helpful given that based on our monitoring in late August, regular milled rice ranged from 45-55 pesos per kilo while well-milled is at around 48-58 pesos. Anumang matitipid ng mga pamilya sa bigas ay pandagdag na rin sa pambili ng ulam o iba pang pangangailangan,” Codog said.

Bantay Palengke also welcomed the statement of Speaker Martin Romualdez that the government will address the concerns of retailers affected by the sudden price cap.

“As consumers, we understand that some retailers bought some of their stocks for a price higher than the ceilings imposed by EO 39. Speaker Romualdez’s idea of financial aid for retailers is a great solution to cushion the price cap’s effect on rice retail businesses,” Codog added.