Rice retailers in Mandaue City express concern with rice price cap

Rice vendors at the Mandaue City Public Market said that they cannot lower the prices of rice they sell as of now or they will suffer a big loss in income. | Emmariel Ares

CEBU CITY, Philippines – With the issuance of the Executive Order 39, some rice retailers at the Mandaue City Public Market expressed concern on the future of their business if prices from suppliers remain high.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. issued the Executive Order 39, which mandates the establishment of a price cap for regular-milled rice to P41 and well-milled rice to P45. The initiative took effect on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

However, some vendors at the local market in Mandaue City, Cebu said that the prices of rice products at the market remain high on the third day of the implementation.

Some rice retailers said that they had no choice but to not comply in order to keep their business alive.

Nieves Fat Auman, who has been selling rice in the market since 2003, said that even if they want to lower their prices, it would be too much of a loss to the retailers.

“Ang purchase price nato kay mahal pa. So dili ka-direkta og [pamubo]..Ang among purchases nga dado, dado pud amo [baligya] kay mo-mark up ra man mi gamay, mga 10 percent,” she said.

Another rice vendor, Mary Claire Abarquez, also stated that she is not following the order yet because it would lead to a negative number for her profits.

“Wala pa mi ana kay mahal pa man gud amo kuha sa bugas. Sa supplier, wala pa may barato nga bugas,” she said.

‘Alkanse’

Auman also said that since the middle of August this year, there has been a significant increase of almost P600 in the price of the sacks of rice they purchase from suppliers.

She added that for ever sack of rice, she was able to buy it for around P2600-2700 while she used to buy it for around P2150 before the increase.

“So dili gyud mi kahatag og P41. Dako kayg alkanse uy,” said Auman.

Based on the inventory of the chief of Office of the City Markets shared with CDN Digital, among the brands in the well-milled rice are Lion Ivory, Palawan, Sinandomeng, and Champion.

As of this writing, Ganador costs P57; Sinandomeng is at P56; Lion Ivory is sold for P53; and both Mais #14 and #16 costs P45 at the Mandaue City Public Market.

Auman said that they were able to get some relief after personnel from the Department of Agriculture paid them a visit on Wednesday, August 6, to inform them that there were will be no penalties for non-compliance.

The Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas (DTI-7) also said their focus will be on monitoring the price ceilings and not on penalizing sellers.

READ: DTI-7 to focus on monitoring price cap on rice

Despite this, both Auman and Abarquez said that they still worry for their business in the coming months if the rice cap will be strictly implemented without a change in prices of rice suppliers.

“Dako kay nag epekto kung naa siyay mga penalties. Kay og naa siyah penalties, manira ming tanan,” stated Auman.

She added that this increase has also caused many consumers to complain to vendors at the market about the price.

“Gikan gyud sa pagsugod sa pagmahal, ang reklamo everyday,” she said.

“Daghan magreklamo. Moingon ‘oh ingon nibarato nang bugas, unya karon mao man lagi gihapon?’” added Abarquez.

Despite their worries, both Auman and Abarquez said that they would be happy to lower the prices if it becomes favorable to them as retailers as well.

They expressed that they are hopeful that by the time their current stock of rice is finished up, there will be a significant change on the prices from rice suppliers.

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