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MANILA – The most affordable regular milled rice can be found not in the Philippines’ traditional rice growing provinces, but in Sulu, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board.
In a study, the NSCB said other provinces where rice is most affordable are in Bataan, Camarines Sur, Pangasinan and Zambales.
The staple is most expensive in Lanao del Sur, Mountain Province, Iloilo, Siquijor and Camiguin.
The Calabarzon – comprising Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces – is where rice is cheapest among the country’s regions. While they used to be home to rice fields, these provinces have long transformed into economic zones, hosting some of the country’s biggest export industries.
Surprisingly, Central Luzon – the country’s rice bowl – only offers the fourth cheapest rice. The staple is very expensive in Regions IX, X and VIII.
Rice in the Philippines retailed for P31.31 a kilo last year, higher than the P30.69 in 2009.
The NSCB said affordable rice is key to mitigating poverty.
"Significant positive correlation is demonstrated between subsistence incidence and retail price of regular milled rice. Meaning, the regions with cheaper rice tend to have lower subsistence incidence. Indeed, we must make rice affordable to the poor," the agency said.
It said the prices of banana latundan, beef meat with bones, pork meat with bones, and fully dressed chicken are negatively correlated with subsistence incidence.
"Could mean that lower prices of these commodities are not good for or do not benefit the poor,” NSCB said.
The agency said it is cheaper to prepare bulalo in Sulu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Zamboanga del Norte, and North Cotabato, than in Cavite, Rizal, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, and Oriental Mindoro.
Metro Manila sells the most expensive pork meat with bones.
The most affordable fully dressed chicken could be purchased in Regions X, VII, and IX. However, chicken eggs are cheapest in Calabarzon, Metro Manila, and Central Luzon.
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