Imported rice at P58 per kilo will be available beginning 20 January, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. announced yesterday.

Laurel said the P58 maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) is aimed at balancing business sustainability with ensuring a fair price for consumers and reasonable profits for farmers.

“We must ensure the price of rice is fair and affordable, even as we make sure that the rice industry remains profitable. We cannot allow the greed of a few to jeopardize the well-being of an entire nation,” he said.

In a statement on Friday, Laurel said the MSRP would initially be implemented in Metro Manila and reviewed monthly to account for factors such as global rice prices. The MSRP, he added, is expected to go lower after the reviews, following current global price trends.

For her part, Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Roque said, “The Department of Trade and Industry fully supports the Department of Agriculture in all its initiatives. We will help in the monitoring and enforcement of the prices set by the DA.”

Aiming for lower prices

In recent weeks, the DA has met with rice millers, traders, importers, retailers, and key government agencies — including the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Finance, and the Philippine National Police — to address the persistently high rice prices.

Citing data and the profit margins of importers and retailers, Laurel emphasized that the price of imported five-percent broken rice should not exceed P58 per kilo.

“For rice with a higher percentage of broken grains, the price should be much lower,” the Agri chief said.

Further, Laurel instructed the Food Terminal Inc., a government corporation under the DA, to sell rice through the Kadiwa ng Pangulo centers and kiosks, including five-percent broken rice (RFA5) at P45 per kilo, 25-percent broken (RFA25) at P40, and 100-percent broken (RFA100), also known as sulit rice, at P36 per kilo.

The rice regularly sold at Kadiwa stores is priced at P29 per kilo and is sold to vulnerable sectors such as indigents, persons with disability, senior citizens, single parents and indigenous people.

Rice stored in National Food Authority warehouses for at least two months will also be made available for resale to local government units in Metro Manila at P38 per kilo.