'While Romualdez said he is studying and eyeing to aid retailers affected by the price adjustments, until then, small time rice retailers would have to come up with solutions to their dilemma.'
It would appear that the President Marcos Jr.'s "vision" to produce affordable rice for the public is far from impossible as both suppliers and retailers suffer from the current rice price caps the chief executive set that took effect on September 5.
The new executive order, or EO 39, set the price ceiling of P41 per kilogram for regular-milled rice and P45 for well-milled rice. This may be a relief for the consumers after they experienced prices as high as P51 peso per kilo of regular rice. However, it also indicates losses for the retailers who acquired their products at over P2,200 per sack, in the case of Region 8.
This is ironic for a region with many farming communities and had been locally supplying rice and now had to transport in due to inadequate stock.
A perfect example is the case of the once state-of-the-art and one of a kind rice processing plant Chen Yi Agventures Rice Processing Complex owned by couple Rachel Renucci-Tan and Patrick Renucci. This facility had great potential but is now believed to be non-operational due to the lack of supply of rice.
Resolving a dilemma
Meanwhile, as if to assure the public, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez seemed determined to address the concerns on rice supply.
"Hindi naman manhid ang gobyerno kaya we want to listen to their concerns and we will try to find a solution doon sa pangamba nila na malulugi sila,” Romualdez said in a statement.
But for small land owners and farmers in Leyte, that "pangangamba" is not just to be worried about as it would greatly affect their livelihood pointing out other factors in rice production.
"Lugi gad kun sugad. Magasto ka ha binhi, fertilizer, pesticide, mabayad pa pagpa ani, mapa molino pa, bayad pa ha paghakot hakot. Ano naman la tam ganansya hto. Rimalaso pa kun bagyuhon o pistehon, " a landowner from Mayorga told Opinyon 8.
While Romualdez said he is studying and eyeing to aid retailers affected by the price adjustments, until then, small time rice retailers would have to come up with solutions to their dilemma.
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