DA wary of nationwide price freeze amid El Niño

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is wary of a nationwide prize freeze for basic commodities in response to the El Niño phenomenon.

Amid calls for a price freeze, DA spokesperson Arnel De Mesa said that a price freeze should only be implemented during an emergency.

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“Hindi naman buong bansa na affected ng El Niño. Nakikita naman natin mostly yung Western section ng ating bansa ang na-apektuhan at kanya-kanya, yung mga apektadong na ito ay nagkaroon na ng state of emergency, so kung idadamay yung buong bansa na hindi naman apektado ng El Niño, baka magkaroon ng problema,” said De Mesa at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon Public Briefing.

(The whole country is not affected by El Niño. We see that mostly the Western section of the country is affected, and each one of these affected areas already has its own state of emergency, so if the whole country is included in the price freeze when not all areas are affected by El Niño, there might be a problem.)

While De Mesa did not specify who he was responding to, Sen. Francis Tolentino had called for a price freeze on basic commodities.

“I call for a price freeze of basic commodities to include rice for the duration of the El Niño season,” said Tolentino.