President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured the public that the country has enough supply of rice, and his administration is doing its best to control the prices.
In a video posted on Thursday, Marcos said the rice supply situation in the Philippines appears to be looking good, assuring Filipinos that there would be no shortage in the coming months.
“Magpa-plano kami kung kailangan mag-import, kung kailangan magpahaba, magparami ng buffer stock sa NFA dahil masyado ng mababa. ‘Yun lang ang nakita naming problema, mababa ‘yung buffer stock ng NFA. Kailangan bumili ‘yung NFA para umabot siya ng at least nine days na buffer stock,” said Marcos.
“Kaya’t ‘yun ang hinahanapan namin ng paraan para i-adjust. Siguro ang magagawa natin ay ang pagbili ay hindi bigla. Hindi malaki. ‘Yun lamang, also, you have to remember. This is agriculture, cyclical ito, by season ito,” he added.
Marcos, who also serves as the Department of Agriculture (DA) chief noted that: “In terms of the general supply for the country, I think we are in good shape. And although we’ll still have to import, our importations have come down. Our agricultural sector is beginning to come back beyond pre-pandemic levels. And so that’s progressing nicely.”
Based on 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.
Agriculture officials bared that the proposed buffer stock of rice is equivalent to nine days of national consumption from July 2023 onwards and will ensure sufficient volume for calamity and relief requirements from July to December this year.
