Agusan del Norte 2nd district Rep. Dale Corvera welcomed the move of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in the issuance of Executive Order No. 39 (EO 39) which imposes price ceilings on rice in the country. The EO 39 was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on August 31 and officially took effect on Sept. 5. ‘The EO 39 is an assurance for affordable prices of rice for all Filipinos,’ Corvera said in an interview on Tuesday, adding that the move aims to “arrest the surging prices of rice.” By imposing mandatory prices at PHP41 per kilo for regular milled rice and PHP45 per kilo for well-milled rice, the lawmaker said the President “has shown his strong determination in ensuring that the price of rice is maintained at an affordable level.” The House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, is also eyeing the possibility of providing aid to small rice retailers who will be affected by the price ceiling, Corvera added. Corvera sees the price ceiling as a temporary measure that allows immediate government response. ‘The price ceiling should only be temporary so as not to be used by traders to justify buying palay at a lower price or refuse to buy the same from farmers,’ he said. Aside from the prices of rice, Corvera also wants the government to show its decisiveness and political will in going after the cartels and unscrupulous rice traders. ‘These cartels and unscrupulous rice traders are engaged in hoarding and price manipulation. We also need to extend substantial support to our rice farmers to increase their production,’ he said. Based on the price monitoring by the Department of Agriculture in the Caraga Region in the last week of August, the prices of rice remained high in a major public market in Butuan City. The regular milled rice in the said market is priced at PHP52 per kilo while the well milled rice at PHP53
Source: Philippines News Agency