Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin vowed that the Philippine authorities would intensify its monitoring of rice costs following the acceleration of inflation at 5.3%.
“Ang aming opisina ay magbabantay upang maisakatuparan ang layunin na mapababa ang presyo ng bigas sa ating mga palengke at supermarkets,” Bersamin said in a press release on Wednesday.
(Our office will monitor in order to achieve our aim of lowering the price of rice in local markets and supermarkets.)
“Ang datos na ito ay isa sa malaking dahilan sa pagpasya ng ating Pangulo sa pagtatakda ng price ceiling (sa bigas) at ito ay isang pansamantalang patakaran upang tugunan ang inflation,” Bersamin added.
(The [inflation] data was among the reasons why the President decided to impose a price ceiling on rice. This is a temporary measure to address the inflation.)
On Tuesday, National Statistician and Philippine Statistics Authority chief Claire Dennis Mapa said inflation — or the rate of increase in the prices of consumer goods and services — stood at 5.3% in August 2023, faster than the 4.7% rate seen in July but slower than the 6.3% in August 2022.
Mapa said that the main contributor to the faster inflation rate in August 2023 compared to July 2023 was the faster increase in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
In a separate statement, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan noted that the rice inflation rate accelerated to 8.7% from 4.2% in July.
Recently, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. approved the joint recommendation of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade of Industry (DTI) to set price ceilings on rice in the country.
Under Executive Order No. 39, the mandated price ceiling is at P41 per kilo for regular milled rice and P45 per kilo for well-milled rice.
Marcos, who sits as the concurrent Agriculture secretary, approved the price ceiling amid the surge in retail prices of rice in local markets.
Before the price ceiling that took effect on September 5, the prices of rice per kilo usually ranged from P45 to P70.
Bersamin said that Marcos had issued the EO to shield the vulnerable population against the “unjustified and synthetic will increase in rice costs,” that was, according to him, caused by hoarding and price manipulation.
“Ang pagtaas ng inflation ay dahil sa presyo ng pagkain, lalo na ang bigas, sa pangkalahatan. Kaya nagpasya ang ating Pangulo na ipatupad ang worth ceiling sa bigas dahil sa nakikita niya na ang pagtaas nito ay namamanipula na nagpapahirap sa ating kababayan,” Bersamin said.
(The increase in inflation was due to the price of food, especially rice. That’s why the President decided to impose a price ceiling on rice because he sees that the price has been manipulated, which causes a burden to the public.)
“Ang worth ceiling ay isang hakbang para tugunan ang inflation para mabawasan ang paghihirap ng ating mga mamamayan. Patuloy tayong magbabantay upang tugunan ang mga pangangailangan ng bawat Pilipino,” he added.
(The worth ceiling is a measure to mitigate inflation to ease the burden of the general public. We will proceed to observe this to handle the wants of Filipinos.) —KG, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
