Cheyenne Suarez

Various basic goods sell at lower prices at the Department of Trade and Industry's recently-launched Suking Outlet in Quezon City on September 18, 2018. Under the DTI Producer-2-Consumer Market Program implemented in various cities in Metro Manila, it aims to address the rising prices of goods due to inflation. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Producer to consumer market

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

QUEZON CITY — Lawmakers are asking why rice prices remain high in the market despite tariff cuts made by the government. Last July, the government slashed import rice tariffs to 15 percent from 35 percent, based on Executive Order 62 of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Following this EO, economic managers said retail prices would go down by P5 to P6 per kilo by August.Rice prices were put in the spotlight during the first joint inquiry of the House Quint Committee or &quot;Murang Pagkain Supercommittee&quot; on Tuesday.Rachel Lacsa of the Philippine Statistics Authority said the price of rice before the tariff cuts was at P50.90 per kilo in July, now it&#x27;s at P50.22 per kilo.House Committee on Ways and Means Chairperson Albay Rep. Joey Salceda was puzzled as to why there is barely any movement, with retail prices at about P56.&quot;Who can explain to me, despite the decrease in tariffs from 35 to 15, still you had a 9.6 percent increase in rice prices. That&#x27;s impossible. Harvest season pa,&quot; Salceda said. &quot;All the benefits of reduced tariff just went down the drain,&quot; he added.House Deputy Majority Leader ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo said his office personally looked into rice prices and saw little change.&quot;Napupunta sa importers natin. Hindi po nababawasan [yung presyo]. Saan napupunta yung tariff reduction natin na 20 percent, sa sobrang laki nun ganun parin yung presyo. We really have a problem. Namamanipulate yung presyo,&quot; he said. Tulfo grilled DA Undersecretary Undersecretary Asis Perez on the high rice prices.&quot;Tama konklusyon ng committee, mukhang hindi bumababa yung presyo, mukhang hindi nagrereflect yung presyo ng international market,&quot; he said.Tulfo pressed DA officials on what they are doing to address the price hike.&quot;Kung bumaba na yung presyo sa international market, bumaba pa taripa, sobra-sobra na dapat ang pagbaba ng presyo. Dapat nasa 30 to 35, bakit 50 pa rin? What are you doing Department of Agriculture? Kaya nga binabaan yung taripa ng Pangulo para makabili ang Pilipino ng bigas,&quot; he asked. &quot;Ang Department of Agriculture ay walang karapatan na mag-dikta o magbigay ng presyo ng bigas. Subalit nitong nagdaang araw, pinatawag ng DA yung retailers sa palengke at tinatanong natin sila bakit mataas parin,&quot; Perez responded.&quot;Dapat po hindi na 44 yung presyo ng pinakamurang bigas ngayon. Dapat po malapit na tayo sa 30. Pero hindi po ito nangyayari,&quot; he added.The DA official noted that prices of both imported and local rice are going down, but not the price they forecasted.&quot;We really have to do a balancing act. Mahalaga ang pagbaba ng presyo ng bigas. Pero kailangan din namin balansehin yung presyo ng palay. Baka yung magsasaka hindi na magtanim,&quot; Perez said.He added, the DA will be meeting with the National Economic Development Authority on the tariff cuts.&quot;I have to be very very honest. Kahit yung NEDA nirerecommend nila na yung taripa hanggang Pebrero nalang… tama po kasi Marso panahon ng anihan,&quot; Perez explained.Tulfo asked the DA official who benefits from tariff cuts given the high prices.&quot;Sa scenario na ito, malinaw na hindi po si Juan at si Maria. Malinaw na yung nag-iimport ang mas nangibang,&quot; Perez explained.Tulfo also asked Bureau of Plant Industry Director Glenn Panganiban the same question.&quot;Kung ganun po yung premise, malamang yung nagiimport po ang nagbebenefit,&quot; he said.Tulfo also questioned why BPI does not penalize importers who do not bring in the quantity of rice they indicated in their permits.&quot;Hindi nila nilabas yung inimport nila, that&#x27;s part of hoarding…. Kaya nagmamahal dahil kakaunti eh. They&#x27;re holding it back,&quot; he said. Panganiban said they ask them to explain before blacklisting and disallowing them from importing if necessary.&quot;May saysay pa ba itong taripa na mababa parin? Sa tingin mo, panahon na ibalik na?We are losing money, the national government is losing billions of pesos dahil sa pagbaba ng taripa na ito. Nawawalan tayo pero yung bigas di bumababa,&quot; Tulfo said. <div>TARIFF CUTS LED TO REVENUE LOSS?</div>Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo echoed this sentiment, noting that rice prices only went down from P51.12 per kilo to an average of P50.68 after the EO was in effect.Bureau of Customs Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla said the rice tariff cuts led to revenue loss for government.&quot;Foregone revenue is about P12 billion from the time the law was implemented,&quot; he said in response to Quimbo. (11:35 am)&quot;I think there&#x27;s an increase in the volume because of the reduced tariff. There&#x27;s an incentive to import,&quot; he added.&quot;Bakit natin na-aachieve kung ano yung naforecast na presyo ng bigas dahil sa tariff reduction. Kasi napakalaki ng foregone revenues… It really doesn&#x27;t make sense, right? P55 yung local tapos ang imported is P39 so bakit,&quot; the Congresswoman said. Maronilla said the tariff cuts resulted in an increase in volume of imports, since there is an &quot;incentive&quot; due to the cuts.&quot;Bakit hindi ganun kalaki yung effect sa levels? Baka nga merong pagsasabwatan,&quot; Quimbo said.Rep. Nicanor Briones echoed that the country faced losses following the tariff cuts.&quot;Nawalan tayo ng revenue na P16.3 billion. Sino nakinabang? Ito yung sinasabi natin na dapat may suggested retail price na binibigay ng NEDA o ng DA ,&quot; AGAP Party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones said.&quot;May cartel na nangyayari. May nakalagay naman talaga na every four months dapat ireview ang EO 62. Dapat ireview at mukhang useless ang pagbaba ng tariff,&quot; he added.The DA meanwhile highlighted its current efforts to make cheaper rice accessible, especially to the vulnerable sector, through the Kadiwa stores which sells it at P29 per kilo.Perez said this is one way to cushion the impact of supposed price manipulation.Lawmakers urged the DA to expand the reach of Kadiwa stores nationwide to boost income of farmers and give more consumers access to cheap, quality produce.The House committee approved a motion to invite private business sector representatives to the next hearing to their input on the issue.

Lawmakers ask why rice prices remain high in the market despite tariff cuts made by the government.

Lawmakers ask why rice prices remain high in the market despite tariff cuts made by the government.

Rice prices remain high despite import tariff cuts, lawmakers say

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Rice prices remain high despite import tariff cuts, lawmakers say

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 26, 2024 04:32 PM PHT

Read More:

House of Representatives

Department of Agriculture

agriculture

inflation

rice

rice prices

rice tariffs

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