DA tells importers to ship more rice at 25% brokens

Because of the continued disability of the National Food Authority to import rice and have control over the market and to support the Department of Agriculture’s cheap rice program– which it implements in its Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) centers at P40 per kg.– the DA is now pleading with importers to ship in more cheap rice of 25 percent brokens.

The DA is ordering the rice traders to set aside a portion of their grain imports with 25 percent brokens citing the need to reduce rice prices.

“By importing more rice with 25% broken grains, we can significantly increase the availability of affordable rice options for Filipino consumers,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said in a statement quoted by Business World on Sunday. 

The scheme is actually to sustain the political gimmick of the administration for the midterm elections in May.

Rice traders typically bring in varieties with only 5% broken grains, which are priced significantly higher compared to the 25% broken grain variety.

DA price monitoring as of Jan. 2 showed that a kilogram of well-milled rice costs P42-P52 per kilo in Metro Manila markets, while regular-milled rice sold for between P38 and P40 per kilo.

The DA has expanded its Rice-for-All rolling stores in public markets across Metro Manila, through the Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KADIWA) program. The Rice-for-All program sells well-milled rice to the general public at P40 per kilo.

To date, 26 KADIWA rolling stores and kiosks are serving consumers in various public markets in the National Capital Region (NCR) and selected Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit stations. In its Kadiwa operations, even rice retailers can buy unlimited quantities and resell the same in their own outlets. The rice sold in KNP has no quotas or limits.

The DA operates Kadiwa rolling stores and kiosks along with 40 KADIWA Centers in NCR and Bulacan that regularly provide basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs), Rice-for-All, and P29 rice for vulnerable sectors. It wants to expand its Kadiwa network to 1,500 locations by 2028. By the end of 2025 it hopes to operate 300 Kadiwa centers.

A think tank, Center for Business Innovation at Angeles University, meantime, said that despite the reduction in tariffs from 35 to 15 percent until 2028, only the rice importers and traders are cashing in on the reduced tariff by not reducing the final price of rice to consumers.

“Traders are capturing the value of cheap tariffs. They may be affected by supply issues from rice exporting countries, but once imported rice is available from these sources, traders directly and immediately benefit from lower tariffs,” Roy S. Kempis, director of the Center for Business Innovation at Angeles University told the paper.