PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday reiterated that the country has ample rice supply as the government manages to control the price of the grain in the market, given the existing conditions.
“Basta’t things — all things remain equal— we have enough supply and that we’ll be able to keep the prices stable,” the President said in a media interview during an event in San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan province as he dismissed the possibility of another rice crisis which happened in 2018.
The chief executive, however, pointed out that there is a possibility of the supply of rice “thinning out” if the country would again be battered by typhoons and the El Nino weather phenomenon that could affect harvest.
“So we are watching and waiting to see what the production levels are going to be after the last planting season before the harvest, for the upcoming harvest and what will be…Basta’t nag-harvest na tayo. Pagka umani na tayo, wala ng problema sa supply. It’s precisely as you mentioned. It is in the dry part where we are waiting for the last planting to be harvested,” President Marcos noted.
The President said his administration is looking at importing as a means to beef up the rice supply, especially when natural calamities greatly affect harvests.
“So ‘yun ang tinitingnan natin. We may have to import. So that’s — we’re keeping that option open,” the President said.
The President cited that the problem of supply in the recent past was brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic which hampered the operations of most of the industries due to the lockdowns.
The buffer stock of the National Food Authority (NFA), President Marcos said, had been depleted because of these circumstances.
“Ngayon, may batas na nagsasabi ang NFA, kailangan lang bumili sa local producer. Ngayon, kung sasabay tayo sa harvest season na bumili, ang NFA, tataas ang presyo ng bigas. Kaya’t ‘yun ang pinoproblema ngayon namin. Paano natin gagawin ‘yun? Saan natin kukunin ‘yung pang-replenish doon sa NFA,” said the President, who also serves as concurrent Department of Agriculture (DA) chief.
The NFA is, however, prohibited by law to import and is only allowed to buy from local farmers.
Under the DA 2023 supply outlook, the country’s total supply is at 16.98 million metric tons (MMT), which is sufficient to cover this year’s demand estimated at 15.29 MMT.
“This would leave the country with an ending balance of 1.69 MMT, which is equivalent to 45 days of buffer stock, instead of the 90-day ideal buffer stock to stabilize the price of rice,” a DA briefer said.
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