DEMONSTRATING ONCE AGAIN his decisive leadership, presidential cousin Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez has instructed the House Committee on Appropriations to find ways to allocate P2 billion to assist retailers affected by the rice price ceiling imposed by Malacañang.

Last Friday, September 1, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order No. 39, setting prices at P41.00 per kilo for regular milled rice and P45.00 for well-milled rice starting on Tuesday, September 5.

“Our goal is to ensure that we can extend assistance to rice retailers who may be affected by this rice price ceiling, as it is a directive from our President aimed at protecting consumers,” Romualdez stressed.

This action was reportedly prompted by government intelligence indicating that certain unscrupulous traders planned to hike rice prices to as high as P70 per kilo.

Touted as a presidential timber in 2028, Romualdez recently led another round of surprise inspection of rice warehouses in Bulacan, with the alert operatives of the Bureau of Customs.

The reputed “Pride of the Warays” personally instructed Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, to immediately coordinate with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the swift allocation of P2 billion to support the rice retailers.

As head of the 311-member House of Representatives, Romualdez emphasized that this initiative underscores Congress’s unwavering commitment to fortifying and bolstering the resilience of essential food supply chains.

“The government is not insensitive, so we want to listen to their concerns, and we will try to find a solution to address their fears of incurring losses,” the Speaker said, referring to the rice retailers.

This only proves that the “gentleman from Leyte” has both brains and heart for the poor.

Unlike other “elitist trapos” (traditional politicians) who are busy fattening their pockets in preparation for the 2025 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential polls.

I can’t help but express admiration for Romualdez’s plans to also engage with leaders of rice retailers nationwide later to hear their concerns regarding potential financial losses stemming from the rice price ceiling.

“We are aware that they have high costs from traders, but our priority is the public’s difficulty in buying rice,” Romualdez said.

He compared this situation to what occurred with onion prices when onion cartels raised them to P800.00 per kilo.

Taking the bulls by the horns, so to speak, exemplifies Romualdez’s brand of leadership.

I think the Filipinos shouldn’t forget Martin Romualdez in 2028. (ai/mnm)