Prices of farm goods likely to increase due to weaker peso — DA

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday prices of farm goods are likely to increase as the Philippine peso reached a new historic low against the US dollar.

The department said the weak peso may affect the country's importation of several products, including rice and fertilizer.

"Number one, makakaapekto siya doon sa mga imported items natin. Halimbawa, sa bigas, of course, kakailanganin natin ng mas maraming piso para bumili ng the same volume. Apektado niyan. Basta karamihan ng imported items, 'yun ang magkakaroon ng impact sa atin," said DA spokesperson Arnel de Mesa in a press briefing.

(Number one, it will affect our imported items. For example, with rice, of course, we will need more pesos to buy the same volume. That will be affected. Basically, most imported items—that's what will have an impact on us.)

"Oo, lahat ng fertilizer natin imported din 'yan. May epekto rin. We need more peso to buy them," he added.

(Yes, all of our fertilizer is also imported. That has an impact, too. We need more pesos to buy them.)

The Philippine peso further breached the 64-to-one dollar level during intraday trading on Wednesday.

The local currency sank to an intraday low of P64.18:$1, weaker than the 33rd record low of P64.17:$1 seen during Tuesday's closing.

The local unit's weakness came amid the continuous spike in global crude oil prices due to the Middle East crisis.

Although there will be incoming volumes of rice, the DA said the price of rice may increase by November.

"We can expect November, December, tataas pa ito. Again, in anticipation sa potential effect ng El Niño," said De Mesa.

(We can expect that in November and December, this will go up. Again, in anticipation of the potential effect of El Niño.)

As of October 22, the DA said 4.36 million metric tons of imported rice has arrived.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. earlier allayed concerns with the economy as the Philippine peso hit a new historic low, saying that there's no need to panic.

For its part, the DA said that the country's food supply is enough amid the weak peso.

"We have enough volume and inventory hanggang matapos ang 2026 ng mga pangunahing pagkain na nakarating na sa ating bansa, both imported and, of course, ang ating local production," said De Mesa.

(We have enough volume and inventory until the end of 2026 of key food products that have arrived in our country, both imported and, of course, our local production.)

"Again, we want to reiterate and reflect the position ng ating Pangulo na sa sektor ng agrikultura. Hindi tayo magpa-panic kasi mayroon tayong sapat na pagkain para sa lahat," he added.

(Again, we want to reiterate and reflect the position of our President in the agriculture sector. We will not panic because we have sufficient food for everyone.)

— VDV, GMA News