DAVAO CITY (MindaNews – 15 July) – Vendors and retailers are raising by at least two pesos per kilo the price of Kohaku rice, even as the Department of Agriculture says “there is no shortage of rice supply,” a claim Mayor Sebastian Duterte and the City Council want probed.
Duterte on Sunday morning said he is asking the national government through a “formal inquiry” on what is behind the lack of rice supply.
Councilor Diosdado Angelo Mahipus Jr., in a privilege speech on July 9, urged the regional offices of the National Food Authority (NFA) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to “immediately investigate for verification the reports of shortage of rice for sale to the public in the City of Davao.”
“There might be no shortage but there may be people hoarding our supply leading to the shortage of rice ‘for sale’ to the public,” he said.
Laborers unload bags at of imported rice along Monteverde Street, Davao City on Tuesday, 30 January 2024. The government imported about 500,000 metric tons of rice to boost inventory in preparation for the anticipated adverse effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon. MindaNews photo
Vendors in Bankerohan Public Market told MindaNews on Sunday that they raised by at least two pesos the price of Kohaku yellow rice from Vietnam, from last week’s P54 per kilogram to P56 as of Sunday morning.
Vendors said suppliers sell to their retailers as little as one sack to as many as 20 sacks per day. They say they usually buy as many as they request, as long as there is enough supply.
In a statement afternoon of July 9, Macario Gonzaga, regional director of Department of Agriculture (DA), reiterated “there is no shortage of rice supply.”
Citing data from the National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS), Gonzaga said 3,465 metric tons or 69,300 bags of rice had just arrived at the Port of Davao. The NFA regional office also said there is sufficient supply.
Grace Lovitaña, a rice vendor, said they read the DA’s statement and that they had, indeed, received Kohaku rice. But she said they had to source them from various suppliers, as each supplier would limit them to a certain number of sacks.
This has been happening for two weeks now, she said.
“Giingnan mi nga dili nihit, pero gamay pa’g supply gi-angkat. Ambot unsa’y tinuod (We were told there is sufficient rice supply but the supply is limited. I don’t know what’s true,” she told MindaNews on Sunday morning.
Jerson, another rice vendor in Bankerohan,e said they were overwhelmed by customers looking for Kohaku rice in the past week.
He said customers don’t buy local rice because they want Kohaku. “They even get mad at us.”
Jocie Mansale, a worker of one of the rice distributors along Monteverde street, told MindaNews on Friday afternoon that they finally have stocks of Kohaku rice but the number of sacks is still “far from usual.”
He said they are still awaiting when the supply in the city stabilizes.
Formal inquiry
In the second episode of the mayor’s “Basta Dabawenyo” program streamed live via his FB page, he said he is baffled by DA’s claims that there is no shortage. He said they will ask the national government through a “formal inquiry” on what is behind the lack of rice supply.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., through Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, signed Executive Order No. 62 on June 20 cutting down rice tariffs from 35 percent to 15 percent, starting on July 6.
The EO said the rice tariff was adjusted with an aim “to augment supply, manage policies, and temper inflationary pressure of various commodities.”
The Presidential Communications Office on June 22 quoted DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa as saying that with reduced tariff, “we can expect within August” that there would be sufficient supply. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
