IMPORTED RICE PRICES DROP
FROM P60 TO P43 PER KILO
By Manny Piñol
Premium imported rice which was sold for P60 in the retail market until yesterday will be priced at no more than P43 starting Saturday, Oct. 27, while misleading rice names like “Senandomeng,” “Super Angelica,” and “Yummy Rice” will be replaced with proper varietal identification.
The implementation of the Suggested Retail Prices (SRP), however, was moved from Oct. 23 to Oct. 27 following the request of rice industry stakeholders for a 3-day period to prepare the signages in the retail outlets.
During the final consultation meeting with industry stakeholders in my office yesterday, the following agreements on the SRP and rice retailing reforms were reached:
– There will be distinct identification of “Imported” and “Filipino” rice;
– Rice sold in the stalls will be identified as “Regular Milled,” “Well-Milled,” “Premium” and “Special Rice;”
– The use of fancy brand names like “Mindoro Dinorado,” “Senandomeng,” “Super Angelica,” “Yummy Rice” and “Double Diamond” will be banned to stop the mislabelling and deception in the marketing of rice;
– Imported “Well-Milled Rice” at 25% Broken will be sold at no more than P39 per kilo while Imported “Premium” rice which was sold for as much as P60 per kilo will now be sold at no more than P43 per kilo;
– Philippine Rice classified as “Regular Milled” will be sold at no more than P39 per kilo, “Well Milled” at P44 per kilo while “Premium Rice” will be priced not higher than P47 per kilo.
There will be no SRP for Special Rice which would include the Cordillera Heirloom Rice, Organic Brown, Red and Black Rice, real Dinorado, Milagrosa, Jasponica, Dona Maria, Hinumay, Malido, Kamoros, Malagkit and other indigenous rice varieties.
All of the agreements will be submitted to the NFA Council meeting set at 1 p.m. today which then is expected to approve a set of guidelines which will be published for 15 days prior to enforcement of penalties and sanctions against the SRP violators.
Penalties and sanctions would include cancellation of NFA licenses, stiff fines and criminal charges.
The stakeholders, however, agreed yesterday that even before the effectivity of the penalties and sanctions they were willing to implement the SRP on Saturday to show their support to the efforts of President Rody Duterte to stabilize the price of goods in the market.
The SRP will initially cover Metro Manila and Suburbs only, including cities and towns in the Greater Manila Area.
The SRP for supermarkets and the regions will be discussed by the stakeholders next week.
The SRP in Metro Manila and GMA will be launched in a formal ceremony to be held at the Commonwealth Market at 7 a.m. on Saturday.
(Photo showing fancy names of rice downloaded from ABS-CBN post while photo of rice with vastly contrasting prices was downloaded from a public website. Last two photos were taken during yesterday’s final consultation with the stakeholders.)
More Stories
Cotabato Eyes Huge ‘Halal’ Meat Demand
‘DV Savellano’ Model Bamboo Goat House
Practical Farming: Turn Used Plastic Containers Into Life-Time Laying Nests!