P20 per kilo of rice? Not in the next six years

A FARMERS group grounded on data and research, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), has been tracking rice prices over the past several years. It has recorded the average rice prices pre-RTL or the Rice Tariffication Law, the average price the year the RTL took effect in 2019 (when greed and recklessness were the norm for rice importation) and the current prices. The sky-high rice prices in 2018, when domestic production utterly fell short because of climate-induced factors, had been duly recorded but with a warning. The year was not a normal year for both rice production and rice prices — so please don't use those data on underwhelming production and surging prices as points of comparison.