Salceda reminds gov’t anew: Rice is key to battling inflation

MANILA, Philippines — Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda has reminded  government economic managers again that managing the prices of rice will be key in the battle against high cost of commodities, as headline inflation rates for March went up to 3.7 percent.

Salceda in a statement on Friday noted that 57 percent of the inflation recorded in March came from higher food prices — noting that the headline inflation rate could have been as low as 3.1 percent if not for the high rice prices across the world.

According to the lawmaker, who is also an economist, prices of other food items like corn and fish are stabilizing — justifying his call for immense focus on rice.

READ: Salceda urges gov’t to be ‘obsessed’ with rice supply: It drives inflation up 

“As I said last month, once again, it’s all about rice. Food inflation accounts for some 57 percent of the total inflation this March. Without the abnormal price of rice in the global market, inflation would have been closer to 3.1 percent, which is well within acceptable range,” Salceda said.

Food prices blamed for higher inflation

“Corn prices are declining. Fish prices are down. Vegetables are cheaper this year than last year. And even sugar prices are slightly down. Bread prices are mildly up, but that is attributable partly due to the correlated prices of wheat and rice, especially in India where they are substitutes. The game plan must be focused on rice,” he added.

Earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that inflation spiked to 3.7 percent in March from 3.4 percent in February — which signifies that the Philippines has experienced a two-month uptrend after four successive months that inflation went down.

READ: March inflation higher but still within gov’t target range 

The PSA said the main culprit of the higher inflation rate was still the more expensive prices of key food items like vegetables, meat and rice.

Nevertheless, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the inflation rate in March stayed within targets.

DA making progress

Despite repeating his reminder, Salceda said significant progress is being made at the Department of Agriculture, noting that Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel has been “more aggressive with distributing rice production support this quarter”.

“He has brought machinery distribution, for example, to about 92 percent of target. The P12-billion rice farmer financial assistance is also set to be completed this June – again, just in time for planting,” Salceda said.

“There is significant progress being made in the DA, and his governance cleanup of the NFA will also help make cheap rice available to the poor, as well as provide a better market for rice farmers,” he added.

READ: El Niño feared stifling PH agri output in 2024

However, he warned government to still be mindful of the possible effects of El Niño, calling for a greater impounding of rain water when it is available so that farmers can use this at the peak of the dry season.

“Because rice is the greatest driver of overall prices, and rice requires the most irrigation of all major crops, the greatest upside risk to inflation moving forward is El Nino,” Salceda explained.

“In the instances where it is available, we should be able to impound water. Farmers with on-farm reservoir systems tend to endure El Nino better – not to mention providing additional opportunities in fish production. That also makes them less reliant on large-scale irrigation projects, which, while optimal, tend to take years to complete,” he added.