MANILA, Philippines - Rice rationing has started and people have formed lines at the National Food Authority’s central office warehouse on Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, to buy three kilos each of NFA rice at P18.85 per kilo. And yet the government is still engaged in double-talk. It insists there is “no rice shortage” but admits the price of the cereal is rising steeply...

...If there is no rice shortage why is its price rising? Price is dictated by the law of supply and demand. If the supply cannot meet the demand, the price will inevitably go up. The fact that the NFA has to resort to rationing is another indication that the supply is not enough. Otherwise it can just flood the market with rice to push prices down.

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