MANILA – The declaration of food security emergency for rice will be retained in February, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Friday.
The food security emergency for rice was declared on Feb. 3, 2025 to help bring down the retail prices of rice back to the price levels before July 2023.
“As of the moment, habang wala pa ‘yung bagong (while there’s no new) Rice Act (yet), it should stay in effect dahil nga kailangan natin ma-manage mabuti ‘yung ating (because we need to properly manage our) rice supply versus supply and demand,” DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in an ambush interview.
Tiu Laurel said he will also look into the progress of the proposed Rice Act to ensure the welfare of both farmers and consumers.
“Manghihingi ako ng update actually soon sa ating (I will actually seek an update soon from our) House of Representatives,” Tiu Laurel added.
The food security emergency was declared when inflation rates exceeded the government’s four percent target for rice inflation.
The measure also allows the sale of aging or soon-to-age but good-quality rice stocks from the National Food Authority through the Food Terminal Inc.
As of Thursday, premium imported rice in Metro Manila sells at PHP45 to PHP60 per kilo, according to the DA Bantay Presyo (Price Watch).
The price range of imported well-milled rice, meanwhile, is at PHP43/kilo to PHP50/kilo; and PHP35/kilo to PHP46/kilo for imported regular-milled rice.
Local premium rice is at PHP42/kilo to PHP60/kilo, while the prevailing price for well-milled rice is at PHP45/kilo and regular milled rice at PHP40/kilo. (PNA)