House panel to address rice price manipulation

Albay 2nd District Representative and House Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda, head of the Quinta Committee (Murang Pagkain Super Committee), announced that they would present initial recommendations to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to tackle alleged rice price manipulation in the country.

Salceda revealed that the committee is analyzing past rice price surges, particularly those from 2012-2013 and 2016-2018, to determine if the same networks of smugglers and cartels are still active.

“We need to crack down on profiteers, hoarders, smugglers, cartelists, and their enablers who contributed to the rice price spikes in 2016-2019 and today’s stubbornly high prices, despite tariff reductions and declining global rice costs,” Salceda stated.

He assured the public that existing laws are sufficient to hold offenders accountable and emphasized the urgency of addressing market abuses. 

Salceda also expressed the committee’s goal to provide President Marcos with actionable recommendations by Christmas, aiming to curb price abuse as a “gift to the people.”

The committee’s ultimate objective is to align rice prices with President Marcos’s vision of P20 per kilogram. “We’ll strive to push prices as close to that target as possible. At the very least, there’s a visible path to P30 per kilo,” Salceda added.

Rice, which constitutes a significant portion of household spending—22% for poor families and 54% of their overall food budget—is a key focus of the committee. 

Salceda criticized exces

sive profits by middlemen and cartels, noting that while global rice prices and tariffs have decreased, retail prices have risen, signaling irregularities in the supply chain.

He pointed out that the landed cost of imported Thai rice stands at P35.52 per kilogram, while the farm gate price in Central Luzon is P20.02. Accounting for milling and profit margins, consumer prices should hover around P37 per kilogram. “Something doesn’t add up,” Salceda remarked.

Salceda also flagged speculative practices among traders as rice imports surged to 4.1 million metric tons, exceeding the year’s needs by 200,000 metric tons. He suggested this speculation may be driven by traders anticipating the temporary nature of reduced tariffs.

The Quinta Committee, tasked with combating smuggling and price manipulation of essential commodities, includes Representatives Ferjenel Biron, Wilfrido Mark Enverga, Rosanna Vergara, Luisa Lloren Cuaresma, and Anak Kalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes. 

The panel aims to ensure food security and reduce hunger nationwide.