00:00 Some retailers say rice may get more expensive in the coming weeks.
00:04 At Commonwealth Market in Quezon City, only a few stalls sell the staple for 50 pesos per kilogram.
00:10 They are having a hard time with the price because it suddenly went up.
00:14 The regular and special became almost the same price.
00:18 Retailers say hardly do sellers make a profit nowadays because of the spike in grain prices.
00:25 From a buying price of 1,030 pesos in July, a 25-kilogram sack of rice now costs 1,230 pesos.
00:34 Retailers say the break-even price is at 49 pesos and 20 centavos per kilogram,
00:40 and with a mark-up of around 3 pesos, this is just enough to cover the cost of supply delivery with the rising fuel prices.
00:47 He hopes the government will intervene by selling cheap stocks from the National Food Authority or NFA.
00:54 Rice watchdog Bantay Bigas earlier warned of a possible cartel among importers, millers, and traders that's pushing rice prices up.
01:02 While the Agriculture Department has said it will inspect warehouses that may be unzuly controlling supply,
01:08 it assures the public that stocks are enough.
01:21 The agency says it is open to review the rice tariffication law.
01:25 This has drawn support from President Bongbong Marcos, who is also Agriculture's secretary.
01:30 It adds it may recommend reverting NFA's previous functions.
01:34 But an agriculture group is against this option.
01:37 Obviously, the noise regarding the review of the NFA has something to do with the reinstatement of the mandate of the NFA to import,
01:48 which is unfortunate for us because the NFA has already removed the import because it is prone to corruption.
01:55 For the past four years, let's see if the funds that are being collected from the NFA is a big help to farmers.
02:01 Sinag says the NFA should focus on buying palay from farmers and sell cheaper stocks to consumers.
02:07 It adds rice prices may stabilize during the harvest season in October.
02:12 EJ Gomez, CNN, Philippines.
02:15 Philippines.
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