President Bongbong Marcos recently conducted an inspection at one of the National Food Authority warehouses in Valenzuela City to assess the current rice supply.
According to Marcos, there is currently enough rice supply, as imports have been reduced in favor of domestic production.
“Oo, mukha naman, so far. Nabawasan kasi, talagang binawasan natin ‘yung importation, doon natin kinukuha sa production. So okay, I think we’ll be alright,” Marcos told reporters.
However, Marcos, who is also the current agriculture secretary, stated that they are monitoring the situation in case bad weather affects production.
“Pero, siyempre, kailangang bantayan nang husto iyan. ‘Pag tinamaan na naman tayo ng masamang weather, mararamdaman na naman natin ‘yan sa supply ng palay, ng bigas,” said Marcos.
Marcos also mentioned that he visited the NFA warehouse to see where the rice being sold in Kadiwa stores is coming from, and assured that there is a sufficient supply.
“Nandito lang kami sa NFA warehouse kasi sa tanong — may nagtanong noong nasa Quezon City tayo, ‘yung supply ng Kadiwa ay baka mapatid, baka ma-ano, magkulang. Tinitignan ko kung saan manggagaling ‘yung supply na pinagbibili natin sa mga Kadiwa. So pinuntahan ko muna kung may laman naman ‘yung mga warehouse at merong parating pa nga,” he said.
“This is already the season na naglalabas na ng bigas so tuloy-tuloy na siguro ito para naman matiyak natin na ang Kadiwa ay hindi mauubusan ng commodities na ipagbibili at a good price na P25,” he added.
In addition to addressing the rice supply, Marcos also aims to address the rising prices of onions in the market by cracking down on smugglers and finding a solution to quickly bring onions to market. Marcos hopes to have a solution in place by next week.
“Ang nangyayari ngayon is that we’re finding a way. Ang daming nahahanap ngayon na smuggler na kinukuha namin. As quickly as possible, naghahanap nga kami ng paraan kasi usually ‘yan kakasuhan mo pa bago i-auction. By the time i-auction mo ‘yan, wala na, sira na ‘yan. Kaya sabi ko hanap tayo ng paraan para mailabas kaagad, mailagay sa market lahat ‘yan. So ‘yun ang pinag-aaralan namin ngayon, Marcos said.
“Baka by next week meron na tayong solution,” he added.
