• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Department of Agriculture-Negros Island Region (DA-NIR) has reported a drop in the retail price of premium (imported) rice at P2 per kilo in Negros Occidental.
However, the prices of locally-produced rice remained at P40 to P45 kilogram price levels, based on the monitoring, DA-NIR OIC-Regional Executive Director Jose Albert Barrogo said.
Barrogo attributed the drop in prices of imported rice to being bought by importers at a lower price.
He said the average price of premium rice is now between P50 and P55 per kilo. Barrogo also said he received reports of premium rice being sold at P48 per kilo in some public markets in Bacolod City and in some areas in Negros Occidental.
In previous months, the price level of locally-produced rice was reported at P50 per kilo.
Barrogo said they are still waiting for the final decision from the provincial government of Negros Occidental on the rollout of the P20 per kilogram rice program in the province.
He assured the public that the rice is of decent quality and not from their old stocks.
The P20 per kilogram rice program, with pilot implementation in the Visayas, is a hallmark initiative of the DA through the guidance of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II earlier said that the selling of the P20 per kilo rice to the prioritized sectors in Negros Occidental may start after the May 12 elections.
This was after the Commission on Elections imposed a 10-day ban on the distribution of all forms of assistance, which took effect on May 2 and will end on May 12, which is the election day. | GB
