Claim: Rice prices in Bohol reach P19.00/kilo.
Rating: FALSE
The Facts: Apollo Hanz, who writes for News Global Ph, said that prices of rice had gone down in Bohol because of the poll victory of Bongbong Marcos and that Teddy Baguilat and Alan Peter Cayetano should be embarrassed for going against BBM’s push for low rice prices.
The video cited in his article states that cheap rice has always been sold at those prices (P20) in the provinces and that imported rice are the expensive ones.
The video also talks about how rice prices going below P20.00/kilo is possible even without BBM as president, but with BBM as president, we can achieve low rice prices nationwide. The video states that these low rice prices are “bad news” for critics of BBM.
In a video posted by Facebook user Kent Depamaylo on 22 June 2022, “ordinary” rice can be seen being sold at P19.00.
The comments under the video state that the same kind of rice has been sold for ₱25.00/kilo.
The comments section of the video also contains speculations that the rice being sold at these low prices is old rice that was stored for a long time or rice that got wet and was re-dried before selling.
A Boholano native also said that this was her first time to hear about rice being sold for P19 in her province.
The Department of Agrarian Reform claims that BBM’s plan for Programang Benteng Bigas para sa Mamamayan may be possible by early 2023, though they have yet to discuss the details of the plans of the program with Marcos.
The Inquirer writes that by the end of the year, rice prices may increase by P6.00 due to increasing production costs. High fertilizer and petrol prices, and global rice price rise are factors that will affect the prices of rice in the country.
“This will then make it harder for the incoming Marcos administration to achieve its goal of selling rice at as low as P20 a kilo, although the Department of Agrarian Reform had said that it had crafted a strategy to make this happen.”
The Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar said: “the only way this is possible is if the government will buy the rice from the farmers and sell it at P20 per kilo. This will cost the government around P123 billion.”
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said while he supports President-elect Marcos’s goal to reduce the prices of rice to P20 per kilo, P27.5 per kilo is “the nearest we can do by now.”
Former DA secretary Manny Piñol, who also advised on eating bukbok rice as harmless when rice imports were laden with weevils, said that reducing the price of rice to P20 is not advisable, as this would affect the livelihood of Filipino farmers. “Kung gusto ng Presidente, puwedeng gawin, but it’s not advisable, it’s not economically viable. It will cause government finance of losses, big time.”
Rice prices have decreased in previous years, but the government cites that the cause is the Rice Tariffication Law.
Rice prices have been spotted falling in parts of the country in March while rising in others.
Moreover, there are no sources other than the Facebook video posted by Kent Depamaylo and the article based on the video that corroborates the claim of P19.00/kilo rice in Bohol.
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