Commercial rice prices soar to P80 per kilo in Basilan

The price of commercial rice has risen to P80 per kilo in Basilan, which has been placed under a state of calamity due to its rice crisis.

"Dati Triple A makabili kami P30 kilo, ngayon P80," one of the residents said in a report by Sandra Aguinaldo in 24 Oras on Thursday.

They have sought cheaper alternatives to rice, since rice from the National Food Authority has also become sparse.

They have taken to eating the marang fruit, and putuh (kamoteng kahoy), which costs only P10.

"Ang putuh, sampung piso, pati marang, sampung piso. Yun ang kayang bilhin ng mga mahihirap," the resident added.

Bontoc in Mountain Province is also nearly out of NFA rice. Only 54 sacks are left in NFA warehouse.

"Ang capacity ng warehouse namin is about 12,000 bags pero ang laman nito ngayon ay 54 bags, so masyadong maluwag, pwede kang mag-basketball," said Mountain Province Provincial Manager Gloria Tabayac.

It is a similar situation in Laoag, Ilocos Norte.

The rice supply will only last for two more days, unless a shipment arrives from La Union.

Meanwhile, around 7,000 sacks of NFA rice are still reserved in Nueva Ecija. But more than 4,000 of them had been infested by insects and are currently undergoing fumigation.

Sacks of rice from Thailand were also infested, but they have already undergone fumigation and were given the green light to be discharged in Tabaco Port in Albay.

Danilo Doblom, regional manager in BPI Quarrantine Service, said that these are now safe to eat.

"Lahat ng samples na nakolekta sa hatch 1, 2, and 3, negative na po sa live insects wala po tayong nakitang buhay na insekto," he said.

"Safe na pong kainin yung bigas na nag-undergo ng fumigation," he added.

The NFA readily admits that if there's no commercial rice in the market, their supplies will only last three to four days.

They said they would prefer to buy from local farmers but their buying price is firmly at P17 per kilo, which would lead to farmers selling to rice traders at a higher price.

"We recommended for the increase in the buying price pero hindi naman tayo pinayagan so ang sinabi natin mag-import to have food security," said NFA spokesman Director Rex Estoperez.

The NFA therefore is banking on importation to control the price of rice.

However, advocacy group Bantay Bigas said that rice importation is only a temporary solution.

"Kailangan lang ng direktang suppport, subsidyo, govyerno sa mga magsasaka at mapalawak ang naaabot ng ating irigasyon at ganun din maihinto itong land use conversion," said Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estabillo.

According to GMA News Research, it was in 1994 when the country last reached 100 percent in the rice sufficiency ratio. —Jessica Bartolome/JST, GMA News