RICE PRICES declined further in early June, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Regular-milled rice averaged P42.77 per kilogram (kg) at retail during the June 1-5 monitoring period, which the PSA refers to as the first phase of June.
This was lower than the P43.32 per kg posted in the second phase of May (May 15-17) and P43.64 in the first phase of that month.
The Department of Agriculture has said that its P20-per-kilo rice program, which is being expanded to now include minimum-wage earners, and other subsidized-rice offerings could influence prices of commercial rice.
Meanwhile, the PSA reported that the retail price of dressed chicken further rose to P214.49 per kg in the first phase of June, from P212.52 in the second phase of May and P210.77 in the first phase of May.
The government has been banning poultry imports from countries with reported outbreaks of bird flu.
But following a ban on poultry imports from Brazil, the Philippines’ leading meat supplier, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. said in late May that the supply of chicken is sufficient.
Mr. Laurel told BusinessWorld last week that the government is awaiting more documentation to facilitate the import of poultry from parts of Brazil certified to be free of bird flu, which he described as “regionalization.”
The PSA said the average retail price of galunggong (round scad) fell to P215.65 per kg in the first phase of June from P221.08 in the second phase of May.
The early-June reading was little changed from the P215.22 average in the first phase of May.
Also in the first phase of June, the average retail price of white potato fell to P114.64 per kg from P120.47 in the second phase of May and P123.64 in early May.
Calamansi fetched P98.60 per kg in the first phase of June, against P101.51 in the second phase of May and P100.72 in early May.
The PSA said cooking oil averaged P179.48 per liter, up from P177.83 in the second phase of May and P176.83 in the first phase. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
