DA will intervene if rice prices are ‘unrealistically high’ By Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
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RICE DROP The Department of Agriculture (DA) launched its “Rice for All” kiosk, offering rice at P40 per kilo, at Kamuning Market in Quezon City on Thursday, December 5, 2024. In a press briefing, the DA announced plans to expand these kiosks across Metro Manila and eventually nationwide to make affordable rice accessible to more Filipinos. This initiative aligns with the government’s goal to address rising food prices and improve food security. NONOY LACZA
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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is ready to intervene if rice prices become “unrealistically high.” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. issued the statement after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced that rice inflation slowed to 5.1 percent last month from the 9.6 percent in October. “If international rice prices continue to ease, the peso remains stable, and tariffs stay low, we would most likely see the price of well-milled rice decline further in the coming months,” Laurel said. President Marcos Jr. had earlier slashed rice tariffs to 15 percent from 35 percent until 2028 as part of efforts to curb high retail rice prices.
“The DA [Department of Agriculture] stands ready to intervene in the market if rice prices remain unrealistically high, especially with the additional P5 billion provided by President Marcos to support the Ricefor-All and the P29 [per kilo of rice] program,” he added. The agency recently rolled out the Rice-for-All program offering the food staple at P40 per kilo in several public markets across Metro Manila to provide cheaper rice options. Initially priced at P45 per kilo, the rice under the program was recently reduced to P43 and was dropped further to P40 per kilo, with the goal of lowering retail prices that remain high despite easing global rice quotations and substantial tariff reductions. The prevailing retail prices of imported well-milled and regular rice
in selected Metro Manila markets is P45 per kilo, respectively, based on the DA’s latest price monitoring report. The local retail prices is P45 per kilo for well-milled rice and P42 per kilo for regular.
Veggies, meat costly Meanwhile, figures from the PSA showed that vegetable and meat inflation accelerated to 5.9 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the string of storms that battered the country’s vegetable-producing areas and the persistent threat of African swine fever (ASF) pushed retail prices of the commodities. Despite this, the DA official allayed concerns for the upcoming holidays, noting sufficient supply of
key farm commodities like rice, vegetables, and meat. “Our supply for rice this December is in good volume. Although we expect local production to decrease, we can expect our imports to reach as high as 4.5 million metric tons [MMT],” De Mesa told reporters in Filipino during a briefing on Thursday. He added that the Philippines could expect over 100 days of national stock inventory by yearend, which would be enough to sustain the country until the next harvest considering the additional rice shipments coming in. “We were assured of good supply of pork and chicken from our livestock stakeholders. There are no problems in the highland [vegetables], and while there was a slight shortage in the lowland [vegetables], it is now recovering, so we have no issues,” De Mesa said.
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NOV INFLATION AT 2.5%; DEC PRINT SEEN WORSE www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Friday, December 6, 2024 Vol. 20 No. 58
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By Cai U. Ordinario
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@caiordinario
ORE expensive cabbage, eggplants and other popular vegetables could cause inflation to accelerate this December, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Analysts also told BusinessMirror that a weaker peso would further drive up commodity prices nationwide as the Philippines remains a net food importer. O n T hu rsd ay, t he PS A re ported that inflation quickened to 2.5 percent in November due to higher food prices driven by expensive vegetables and meat products. (See: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2024/12/05/inflation-picks-upto-2-5-in-november/). “We are looking at which commodities have high weights in the food basket, in particular vegetables, because the typhoons still have an effect on them,” National
Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said, partly in Filipino. “So, it's possible that inflation will increase this month of December. And while the weight of vegetables is not that high, it still has a substantial impact and can lead to a higher inflation rate,” he added. Mapa said this also accounts for the 2.5-percent average core inflation rate recorded in November 2024. While volatile food and energy items were not included in the computation of core inflation, the higher vegetable prices caused core inflation to increase. See “Nov,” A2
BANKS ALONE CANNOT FIGHT ONLINE FRAUD–BDO CHIEF
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IGHTING online fraud and other cyberthreats is a two-way street, according to the President of one of the largest publicly-listed universal banks in the country. In a recent press event, BDO Unibank Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Director Nestor V. Tan said banks alone cannot fight cyberthreats. Banks, not just BDO, need the help of the public in fighting cyber fraud, Tan said. Earlier this year, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center reported nefarious activities online earn an estimated P1 billion annually. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2024/02/13/cicc-warns-publicamid-p1-b-cybercrimes-annual-
profits/). “We need your help to educate the consumer because the prevention of cyber fraud is actually a two-way street. Banks have to do their part, but the consumers have to do their part. And I think that has to be put forward,” Tan said. T he fight against c yber fraud, Tan said, is one of the important messages the banking sector would like to communicate with the public. In August of this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) launched the Financial Services Cyber Resilience Plan (FSCRP) to strengthen banks and other financial institutions against cyber threats. See “Banks,” A2
GAME OVER Authorities deported 187 Chinese nationals following their arrest for multiple immigration violations. These individuals were working in POGO hubs across Pasay, Cebu, Clark, and Bamban, Tarlac. The raids and arrests were part of ongoing efforts to crack down on illegal activities within Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), which have been under increased scrutiny in recent years. NONIE REYES
Higher power rates seen as ERC OKs ₧3-B collection By Lenie Lectura
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@llectura
OWER rates are likely to go up next year after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved the collection of the remaining 70 percent of the recalculated amounts due on the reserve market transactions. Late Thursday, the ERC released an order stating that the total amount that remains to be collected from consumers stands at around P3.05 billion. This amount will be collected over a staggered period of three months for trading participants in the Luzon and Mindanao Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM)
and six months for those in the Visayas. The corresponding rate impact will be P0.124/kWh for Luzon and Visayas, while Mindanao will have a lower rate impact of P0.033/kWh. For electricity consumers, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said the impact of the P3.05 billion will likely result in a total increase of around P0.40 per kWh, or about P0.13 or P0.14 per kWh every month for three months, in the transmission charge. “Considering that total transm ission c ha rge r ight now is around P0.90 per kWh, almost half is P0.40 per kWh. The impact See “Higher,” A2
PESO exchange rates n US 58.3790 n japan 0.3876 n UK 74.1647 n HK 7.4995 n CHINA 8.0324 n singapore 43.4432 n australia 37.5260 n EU 61.3680 n KOREA 0.0414 n SAUDI arabia 15.5338 Source: BSP (December 5, 2024)