Rice prices declining – Palace

MANILA, Philippines – Rice prices have declined steadily since the last quarter of 2015, a Palace official said yesterday amid the protest of starving farmers in Kidapawan City.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said the supply of rice remained stable based on a report submitted by El Niño task force head and National Economic and Development Authority chief Emmanuel Esguerra.

“While drought entails low production leading to high prices of agricultural products, inflation data showed that prices of food, particularly rice, have been low and stable in the past months,” Coloma said.

“In fact for March 2016, despite the El Niño, rice prices remained lower compared to the previous year,” Coloma added.

He said the prices of vegetables also went down by 2.9 percent last March from the previous month, for a total decline of 7.8 percent since the year began.

The Aquino administration has offered the untouched funds of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to give relief to the Kidapawan farmers.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the national and local governments have put in place contingency measures to prevent the effects of El Niño in the countryside – from rice distribution to cash-for-work programs.

Abad said the government could use the NDRRMC funds to help the farmers affected by drought.

Abad refuted the claim of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano that part of the problem was the delay in the release of funds for El Niño.

“Let us not politicize the situation of the farmers and the poor,” Abad said.

He said the Department of Agriculture, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and other government agencies have calamity and emergency funds on top of the Quick Response Funds.

“Local government units, including the provincial government of North Cotabato, can distribute rice using their calamity funds,” Abad said.