By Liezelle Soriano
MANILA — The newly appointed Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Monday said that the P20 per kilogram unit price of rice was “an inspiration but still not possible today.”
In a press briefing, Laurel said he hopes to make the rice more affordable but “it will be not easy.”
“The P20 per kilo (unit price) was an aspiration, ‘di ba? Ang problem now, we are in the 15-year high sa world market…Today that is not possible. But with ‘yung directive ni Presidente to modernize, irrigate, use the right seeds, mechanize, and all of that, maraming gagawin, we are getting ready to do our best, to try to make rice affordable na kayang-kaya ng bulsa ng mamamayan,” Laurel said.
“But of course, modernizing is not easy. So it might take a little time, but we will do it as fast as possible,” he added.
The DA chief said that lowering the price of rice would be possible, however, he did not mention the exact price.
“It is possible to lower the price. But we have to have our silos, we have to have buffer stock, we have to change some laws, I believe,” Laurel said.
Earlier, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who at the time was the DA Secretary, was confident about lowering the price of rice to P20 per kilo nationwide.
(ai/mnm)