A top official of Cagayan de Oro’s rice retailers has sounded the alarm that the government’s 60-day suspension of rice importation, set to begin September 1, could backfire and push prices up instead of stabilizing them.
Engr. Franklin Dagcuta, president of the Cagayan de Oro City Rice and Corn Retailers Association and the United Market Vendors Association, warned that the advance announcement of the ban gave retailers an excuse to jack up prices.
“The problem with government is that it announced (the rice import ban) way ahead. This gave retailers reason to mark up their inventory even if these were bought at a lower prices months before,” Dagcuta told reporters.
Dagcuta stressed that the national government should have secured enough buffer supply before halting imports. He noted that 99% of the rice in Cagayan de Oro is imported, with the remaining supply coming from local sources.
However, local rice supplies are mostly premium varieties, sold at no less than ₱58 per kilo, he added.
By September 1, harvests from Cotabato, Valencia, and General Santos are expected to flow into the city’s public markets.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture-10’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD-10) has set a suggested retail price (SRP) of ₱45 per kilo, with retailers allowed to add up to ₱5.
Dagcuta said this forces retailers to aggressively search for lower-priced rice just to meet the SRP set by the DA.