The government must zero in on the supply of rice, a key driver on the uptick of the inflation rate in February at 3.4 percent, breaking the four-month consecutive downtrend.

This was the pitch of Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, a seasoned economist and chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Tuesday.

“In other words, if the government were to be obsessed with one thing, it must be rice. Rice is up 23.7 percent year-on-year, and month-on-month inflation was at an elevated 1.0 percent,” he averred.

Salceda turned the spotlight on the supply and cost of rice as other major navigators of inflation, such as vegetables and corn, incurred a price drop.

“On the aggregate, utility bills are down versus last year. Even sugar prices are down on a year-on-year basis,” Salceda furthered.

The country’s inflation rate slightly jumped for the first time in five months in February to 3.4 percent based on the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the rice inflation in February, which accelerated to 23.7 percent from 22.6 percent in January, was the fastest recorded in 15 years.

According to Salceda, interventions to be put in place by the Department of Agriculture and other concerned agencies must be “laser-focused” on the staple grain.

He also turned down the proposal of increasing imports at this time since harvest season begins in April and the election in India, which imposes a rice export ban, will take place in May,

In view of the foregoing, he said the DA must ensure that all post-harvest support is prepared for immediate use by April.

Meanwhile, Speaker Martin Romualdez assured that proactive steps are being taken by the government to cushion Filipinos' financial distress, such as rolling out various subsidy programs, including Card and Rice Distribution (CARD) initiated by the House and the Department of Social Welfare and Development to ease the public's burden in escalating rice prices.

The House of Representatives has allocated a substantial budget for “ayuda” or relief subsidies in the 2024 General Appropriations Act, according to Romauldez.