CROP DAMAGE. A farmer checks his crop during the onslaught of Typhoon Julian in Malasiqui town, Pangasinan on Monday (Sept. 30, 2024). The Department of Agriculture assured that there will be no sudden spikes in the retail price of rice despite the possible impact of Julian in some parts of the country. (PNA photo by Hilda Austria)
MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday assured there will be no “sudden” spikes in the retail price of rice despite the possible effects of Typhoon Julian and the unreleased shipments of imported rice in the ports of Manila.
In an interview, DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said they are closely monitoring Julian's impact in the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, and parts of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
"Hindi tayo nag-e-expect ng sudden or mga biglaang pagtaas ng agricultural commodities lalo na sa palay (unhusked rice) dahil maganda na iyong (We are not expecting any sudden or abrupt increase in prices of agricultural commodities especially in palay because there’s a good) supply of both local and imported," he said.
De Mesa, likewise, expressed hopes to maintain the agricultural damage within its annual expected losses in palay production ranging from 500,000 metric tons (MT) to 600,000 MT.
"May last quarter pa tayo, hopefully hindi na ganun kalaki iyong bagyo. Kahit may La Niña tayo, we're still expecting na mas maganda pa rin iyong harvest (We still have a last quarter, hopefully typhoons will not be strong. Even if we have La Niña, we are still expecting that our harvest will be good)," he said.
To date, he said the country has incurred around 420,000 MT of agricultural damage due to the combined effects of the El Niño phenomenon and other weather disturbances since January.
Unreleased shipment
For the unreleased shipments in the ports, De Mesa said it has no impact on the retail prices considering that most of the 888 reportedly “overstaying” shipping containers were already claimed.
“That's about 23,000 tons. Kung titingnan natin ito (If we look at it) compared doon sa (to the) 3,092,000 metric tons na pumasok na (that has already entered). That's less than 1 percent, 0.75 percent ng kabuuan (of the total),” he said.
“So, that's very insignificant kumpara doon sa (compared to the) total imported volume na dumating sa ating bansa para makaapekto sa presyo (which arrived in the country to affect the prices).”
As of Sept. 27, the price of imported regular-milled rice in Metro Manila ranges from PHP45/kg to PHP48/kg; and PHP45/kg to PHP55/kg for imported well-milled rice, according to DA-Bantay Presyo.
The local regular-milled rice ranges from PHP45/kg to PHP50/kg, while the local well-milled rice ranges from PHP47/kg to PHP55/kg.
De Mesa, meanwhile, reported that 532 out of the 888 shipments were already released as of Sept. 24, with the majority of the shipments “overstaying” in Manila ports for less than 30 days.
Two shipments were already declared “abandoned” for overstaying for 275 days and 160 days.
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), meanwhile, vowed to complete its report on the alleged overstaying of rice import shipments to DA on Oct. 1. (PNA)
