BACK during the 2022 elections, candidate – now President – Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. made a startling promise: he would drop the price of rice to PHP 20 per kilo.

In March of 2024, however, the opposite was announced: as per the Department of Agriculture (DA),  the retail price of rice would increase by 36%.

Many have, thus, shown disappointment that Marcos has not fulfilled his promise. The DA reassures, however, that there is still time for this to happen.

As per Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., he and the rest of the DA are working hard to achieve Marcos’s promise and trying to figure out ways to do so. Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa, in a report, states that they will get there, but slowly.

Laurel continues to say that they hold meetings almost every week, trying to find a solution to bringing the retail price of rice down to PHP 20 per kilo.

Laurel explains that in doing so, they would need to follow a step-by-step approach. They hope to first reach their initial target of PHP 29 per kilo, which would help those in disadvantaged sectors and vulnerable households. 

More than this, however, this solution requires the help of both the entire DA and the entire nation. 

Laurel explained: “We are trying our best.”

Marcos explained during his SONA that, the elevated world prices of grain are a result of geopolitical tensions and problems of global supply. There is, thus, still a need to import rice from other countries, as local production is still insufficient at present. 

Marcos reiterates in his SONA, however, that he will continue to show support toward the agriculture sector to ensure its efficiency. 

The answer, then, to whether or not the prices of rice will be going down any time soon? One can only hope that it is true.