Agriculture Undersecretary Roger Navarro was quoted as saying that "distributing rice instead of money to 4Ps beneficiaries could help lower rice inflation, which soared to a 14-year record high of 22.4 percent last month." First, providing the rice equivalent of the monthly cash assistance will not guarantee that the beneficiaries will receive good quality rice. Substituting the rice equivalent of the cash assistance means depriving 4Ps beneficiaries of the power to decide what kind of rice to buy to satisfy their needs. Third, regarding the claim that providing the rice equivalent instead of cash will result in lower rice inflation, I am not sure whether any economist in his right mind will buy the argument. And as noted earlier, it is most likely that the rice equivalent will be in the form of regular milled rice.

Source: Manila Times February 23, 2024 04:10 UTC