CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced on Friday that it has uncovered a price manipulation scheme by rice retailers in Northern Mindanao. Retailers were found mislabeling regular rice as special rice through deceptive price tagging in their market stalls.

Ferdinand Carabella, head of the Regional Agribusiness and Marketing Division (AMAD), stated that an investigation conducted by the agency revealed that some retailers were misleading consumers by interchanging price tags for regular and special rice, giving the false impression that they were purchasing higher-quality rice.

“We conducted an investigation and analysis to determine why rice prices remain high in the local market and discovered that some retailers were tagging regular rice as special rice,” Carabella said.

To address this issue, the DA has ordered the removal of all price tag classifications, allowing consumers to make their own judgments about the quality of rice.

“Consumers can smell the grains and decide which display to buy from,” he added.

This price manipulation practice is reportedly common among small retailers in local markets.

The directive to remove price tags coincided with the launch of the Kadiwa Farmers’ Market in Cagayan de Oro City.

The Kadiwa Farmers’ Market, spearheaded by AMAD in partnership with Robinsons, provides a venue for local farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises to sell their fresh produce directly to the public.

Participating exhibitors include the Northern Mindanao Federation of Dairy Cooperatives, Fisherfolks of Agusan Aquatic Agriculture Cooperative, Homegrown Marketing Cooperative, Miarayon Talakag Highland Farmers Association, Manzano Farm, CNQ Farm, CdeO Integrated Farm, NM Foods, Agay-ayan MPC, and Chill and Grind.

The DA stated that the Kadiwa Farmers’ Market is part of the region’s Kadiwa Pop-up Stores initiative, which began in 2020.

Managed by designated consolidators or suppliers, these marketplaces offer locally sourced agri-fishery products at prices lower than those found in traditional markets.