Ever the optimist, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured the public on Tuesday the country has enough rice buffer stocks amid the agricultural damage wrought by typhoon “Egay” in Northern Luzon.
In a short video message, Mr. Marcos said he had met with Department of Agriculture officials after “Egay” hit Northern Luzon and caused about P1.94 billion worth of damage to agriculture.
He said he discussed the effects of the typhoon on rice production and how to ensure there will be enough rice stocks.
“As of now, it appears that the supply is okay,” Marcos said.
The President made the assurance after the National Food Authority, or NFA, said its buffer stock of rice was good only for two days and that it has to import 1.3 million metric tons to replenish this.
In a Malacañang press briefing, DA Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla revealed the government has received applications to import, and the sanitary and phytosanitary import certificates were being processed.
“I think we really need the help of the private sector in situations like this,” Sombilla said. “Their support is crucial in a situation like this.”
The DA said it was also looking at ways to boost the NFA’s buffer stock through contract-growing, among other measures, like asking rice cooperatives and farmers to sell all that they produce to the NFA.
The government’s decision to import rice comes amid concerns about the tight rice supply. The Rice Tariffication Law mandates a nine-day buffer stock, but the NFA’s current inventory is seven days short of that.
The DA was apparently caught unaware by the NFA pronouncement. “I will have to talk, to discuss (with the NFA) how they are coming up with that two days (of buffer stock). But, of course, their stocks really are very low,” Sombilla said.
“I’m not sure if the two-day buffer stock is applicable nationwide,” she added, pointing out that the NFA’s stock “is intended for emergencies.”
Also on Tuesday, the DA warned unscrupulous traders not to jack up rice prices on account of the weather disturbances.
“This July, we were hit by typhoons. Based on our price monitoring, the prices of rice and vegetables went up, especially our imported rice,” said DA Deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez.
He said they had monitored price increases of P1.50 to P2 per kilo of rice following the recent typhoons.
“Some traders are only after profits. We are asking them to keep prices reasonable. In our monitoring, rice prices had increased by P1.50 to P2 per kilo,” he added.
Estoperez urged the public to stop buying more rice than they need. “If we panic, that will put more pressure on supply and prices,” he said.
Local traders, on the other hand, blamed the rising prices of rice imported from Vietnam, Thailand and India for the increase in local retail prices.
“Private traders are scaling down their imports because of rising international prices while holding on to their stocks and waiting for local prices to go up further,” said Raul Montemayor of the Federation of Free Farmers.
Likewise, July and August are lean rice harvest months, he said.
“If imports do not come in as needed in the coming months, we could have very tight supplies before harvests start in late September and peak in October and November. The typhoons could further delay harvests since farmers will have to replant,” Montemayor explained.
He said the NFA can only stabilize the price of rice if it has enough inventory, but it has a low buffer stock because it failed to buy rice from local farmers due to the low prices it offered.
The DA had previously said there was enough rice to cover year-round requirements despite the effects of the typhoons.
‘Importing again’
Noting the NFA pronouncement, the President said the government has already looked at rice sources, whether local or foreign, to purchase the Filipinos’ staple grain.
“We have already made a schedule on where we will source our production, where we will make local purchases and, if necessary, we will proceed with importing again, Marcos said.
“It’s good that in our discussion, we observed that our rice imports are decreasing. However, in emergencies like this, we need to assess whether there is still a need for rice importation,” he said.
The DA will send 111,873 bags of rice seeds, 14,426 bags of corn seeds, and 2,582 kilos of different vegetable seeds to areas hit by Egay to increase local production and support.