Manila, July 2 -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday cautioned rice traders against exploiting the government's "Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na" program to justify slashing their buying prices from farmers.

This came amid reports that palay (unhusked rice) prices in Victoria, Tarlac have dropped to as low as PHP13/kg - allegedly due to BBM Na's low retail price, which is even cheaper than rice bran.

"They cannot use the PHP20 rice as an argument na mas mababa (that's cheaper), therefore, kailangan nilang ibaba ang presyo (they also need to drop the buying price). That cannot be," Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in a press briefing.

De Mesa clarified that BBM Na rice is sourced from the National Food Author...