By Ramon Efren Lazaro
BOCAUE, Bulacan — Rice traders in this rice trading center in Bulacan were caught off guard by the rice price cap set by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Rose Dalangin, a rice trader and former association president of Golden City Business Park that they are on the losing end with the price cap.
She cited that the latest price of a clean and dry newly harvested palay is at P32 per kilo which would translate into a wholesale price of rice to around P52 per kilo.
Dalangin said “Dapat mag adjust ang palay traders according to the price control of rice.”
She added that the price cap “must be announced to farmers and traders ASAP.”
On the other hand, Tony Santos, another wholesale rice trader in Bulacan, said that “Hindi kakayanin na maibenta ang kasalukuyang bentahan ng mga bagong ani na palay na nagkakahalaga ng P32 kada kilo na pangkaraniwan ay short pa sa milling recovery dapat meron subsidy.”
This as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sets the price cap for rice at P41/k (regular milled rice) and P45.00/k (well-milled rice) for the whole country.
Nelson Ray Romero, information officer of the Department of Trade and Industry in Central Luzon, said the price cap is effective September 1 this year.
Violators of the price cap face penalties under RA RA 7581 or the Price Act of the Philippines. (UnliNews Online)
