Benise Balaoing

Department of Agriculture Assistant Secretaries Arnel De Mesa and Genevieve Guevarra monitor the rollout of the government’s “Rice-for-All” program at the Kamuning Public Market in Quezon City on December 5, 2024. The program sells well-milled rice at ₱40 per kilo in various markets across Metro Manila. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

RICE-for-ALL- Kamuning Market

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- The Department of Agriculture said it was monitoring the suspension of rice importation, which took effect Monday. DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa said they were conducting market rounds with the Department of Trade and Industry, members of the Philippine National Police, and local government units. “Natutuwa tayo na bagama’t mayroong mga ilang pagtaas sa ilang mga pamilihan ay nananatiling matatag ang presyo ng bigas sa mga pamilihan,” he said in an interview with state-run media PTV Tuesday. While price increase was noted for imported rice, De Mesa said there we no price adjustments on local commercial rice. He added that consultations were ongoing with rice importers, retailers and other stakeholders to avoid abuse and price manipulation. De Mesa said the country had sufficient inventory and was expecting a &quot;record harvest&quot; for the entire year. “Patuloy iyong konsultasyon ng DA sa iba’t ibang stakeholders ng bigas kasama na rito iyong mga importers, iyong ating mga retailers, kasama na rin dito of course iyong NFA at iba pa nating ahensiya para masigurado nga na walang pang-abuso pati iyong price speculations dahil alam natin napakaganda ng stock inventory ng bigas sa ngayon,” he said. “We have a record harvest of 9.08 million metric tons ng palay noong first semester. Ngayong main cropping natin, we’re expecting more than 11 million metric tons ng palay na maaani rin natin. So, sa kabuuan, we are expecting record harvest for the whole of 2025,” the agriculture official added. De Mesa reiterated the agency’s request to amend the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage law. The department seeks to be delegated enforcement powers against agricultural smuggling and to review the amount threshold for what constitutes economic sabotage. “Kung titingnan po natin iyong sa sibuyas nga iyong example natin – karamihan nang na-smuggle ay sibuyas. Napakamura po nito kung manggagaling ito sa ibang bansa at iyong 10 million ay napakaraming sibuyas na papasok na magdudulot nga ng problema doon sa overall na stock inventory at presyuhan  pagdating dito sa ating bansa,” De Mesa said. “So, iyong 10 million po siguro masyadong mataas at ma-review mabuti para masigurado talaga na ma-discourage natin ang smuggling or tuluyan nang mapigilan po,” he added. The official noted that since January 2024 up to August 2025, around P3.78-billion smuggled agricultural goods were confiscated from 182 smuggling operations. Most of the smuggled goods were onion, fish, vegetable, rice among others.

The Department of Agriculture assured that they are monitoring the implementation of the suspension of rice importation after it took effect Monday, September 1

The Department of Agriculture assured that they are monitoring the implementation of the suspension of rice importation after it took effect Monday, September 1

DA says coordinating with stakeholders vs price manipulation amid rice import ban

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DA says coordinating with stakeholders vs price manipulation amid rice import ban

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 02, 2025 05:10 PM PHT

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