March wholesale rice price highest since Oct ’24 By Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
T
HE average wholesale price of rice in March surged to its highest level in over a year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Preliminary data from the PSA showed that the average wholesale price of regular milled rice rose by 12.2 percent to P44.71 per kilo in March, from P39.86 per kilo in the same period last year. The latest regular milled rice price is the highest level in one year and five months, or since the P44.79 per kilo recorded in Octo-
WORLD » A8
CEASEFIRE THREATENED AS ISRAEL EXPANDS LEBANON STRIKES, IRAN CLOSES STRAIT AGAIN
ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
ber 2024, based on PSA data. The fastest increase in regular milled rice was posted in Central Visayas, where the price of the staple surged by over a third to 36.7 percent to P51.01 per kilo, from P37.31 per kilo in the previous year. Furthermore, figures from the state statistics agency showed that the wholesale price of well-milled rice averaged P50.06 per kilo last month, up by 12.6 percent from P44.46 per kilo in March 2025. Historical data from the PSA showed that the latest figure was also the highest level since the P50.08 per kilo posted in
July 2024. The fastest increase was recorded in Soccsksargen, where prices also grew by over a quarter or 26.8 percent to P49.55 per kilo last month, from P39.07 per kilo in the same period a year ago. On a monthly basis, the regular milled rice and well-milled rice were also 7.4 and 6 percent higher than the P41.62 and P47.23 per kilo recorded in February, respectively. Latest retail price of local regular milled rice ranges from P33 to P55 per kilo, while that of wellmilled rice settles at P40 and P57 per kilo.
These were higher than the prices recorded prior to the Middle East conflict, where regular milled rice ranged between P33 and P47 per kilo, while well-milled rice reached P40 to P54 per kilo, based on government data. With imported rice currently being sold at around P55 to P60 per kilo, the government plans to impose a price cap in order to moderate prices. The Department of Agriculture (DA) expects retail prices of foreign rice to ease to P50 per kilo as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issues an executive order setting a price cap.
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
WAR RISKS CAUSE S&P OUTLOOK DOWNGRADE www.businessmirror.com.ph
n
Friday, April 10, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 178
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 20 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
FROM BATAAN TO QC Leading the commemoration of the 84th Anniversary of the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) in Pilar, Bataan on Thursday (April 9, 2026), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called for
solidarity to address great geopolitical tensions, including that in the Middle East. Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya said Tokyo will support efforts to resolve the conflict in the Middle East to maintain freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Robert Ewing said the US will also work with its allies, including the Philippines, in preserving international peace. Story in A5 News, “Marcos calls for solidarity to combat rising costs amid Mideast tensions; Japan, US vow support.” Also on Thursday in Quezon City, members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), alongside artists, fisherfolk, and youth volunteers, take part in a live mural painting in observance of Araw ng Kagitingan at the wall of Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo High School. The annual commemoration marks the Fall of Bataan in 1942, honoring Filipino and American soldiers who endured the Bataan Death March under Japanese occupation. The activity forms part of the nationwide West Philippine Sea (WPS) Mural Festival, which transforms public walls into visual narratives of courage, sovereignty, and shared identity. PCO/ NONOY LACZA
I
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto & Andrea E. San Juan
NCREASED risks to the Philippines’s external and fiscal position from the Middle East conflict prompted Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings to downgrade its outlook to “stable” from “positive,” as uncertainty remains high.
The credit rater on Thursday revised its outlook to stable, but affirmed the Philippines’s “BBB+/A-2” sovereign credit rating. “Our base case assumes the war’s intensity will peak and the Strait of
Hormuz’s effective closure will ease during April, but some disruptions are likely to persist for months,” S&P said. Reacting to the S&P Global See “Downgrade,” A2
Biz groups: Only fragile relief from temporary reopening of Hormuz
T
HE two-week reopening of the Strait of Hormuz provides only temporary relief for global supply chains, business groups in the Philippines said as they urged government and industry players to move quickly while cautioning that risks remain high amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. According to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the brief reopening of the critical shipping route presents an oppor-
tunity to secure shipments of oil and fertilizers needed to stabilize domestic supply. Yet, it stressed that the development should be treated as a short window rather than a resolution to ongoing disruptions in global trade flows. PCCI president Perry Ferrer said the move could help stabilize oil prices in the immediate term, but warned that uncertainty continues to See “Hormuz,” A2
Meat product imports surge by 23% in Feb By Ada Pelonia
T
@adapelonia
HE surge in beef, chicken, and buffalo imports as of endFebruary points to bolstered demand and potential expanded production from processors, according to the Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita). This, after figures from the Bureau
of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that the country imported 292,105 metric tons (MT) of meat products in February, up by 22.9 percent from the 237,681 MT recorded in the same period last year. Of this, beef imports inched up by 2.49 percent to 33,191 MT from last year’s 32,386 MT. The majority of these consisted of beef cuts at 21,983 MT, followed by beef fats at 6,459 MT.
“Beef fat imports surged by nearly 50 percent, suggesting increased demand from processors,” Mita President Emeritus Jesus Cham said. Furthermore, shipments of buffalo also surged by 96.3 percent to 7,475 MT from 3,808 MT, based on BAI data. “Buffalo imports nearly doubled compared to the same period last year,” Cham said. “Together with the
rise in beef fat, this reinforces the view that processors are gearing up for expanded production.” Data from the BAI also noted that chicken imports grew by nearly 28 percent to 98,926 MT in February from 77,310 MT in 2025. Mechanically deboned meat (MDM) accounted for the majority of these at 53,849 MT, followed by See “Imports,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 60.2060 n JAPAN 0.3775 n UK 80.0860 n HK 7.6831 n CHINA 8.7752 n SINGAPORE 46.9589 n AUSTRALIA 41.9696 n EU 69.8390 n KOREA 0.0402 n SAUDI ARABIA 16.0340 Source: BSP (April 8, 2026)