President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has assured the public that the country’s rice situation is “manageable and stable” enough to protect grain production and stocks from the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.
In a statement on Wednesday, Malacañang said that Marcos met with the Private Sector Advisory Council and the Philippine Rice Stakeholders Movement or Prism on 8 August to discuss the country’s rice production.
“The rice situation is manageable and stable. There is enough rice for the Philippines up to and after El Niño next year,” said Marcos, who is also the secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
For context, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration had said the El Niño phenomenon may persist until the first quarter of 2024.
At the same meeting, the DA and Prism told Marcos what they thought the country’s rice supply would be like until the end of 2023.
DA Undersecretary Merceditas Sombillo said the closing stock is expected to be 1.96 million metric tons or MT in 2023, which is enough to last 52 days.
Sombillo said the Philippine Statistics Authority’s prediction for the finishing stock, which is that it will be 2.12 million MT and last for 57 days, was even better.
Prism lead convenor Rowena del Rosario-Sadicon, for her part, said the public shouldn’t worry because the country has enough rice to last until the end of the year.
No panic
“We don’t need to panic about anything. Let’s stay calm. It’s very important that we are united in our objective to stay positive about this. We have enough rice,” Del Rosario-Sadicon said in the Palace statement.
A report earlier this month said the National Food Authority or NFA did not have enough rice on hand to help the Philippines get through disasters.
The report said that as of the end of June this year, the NFA’s backup stock was 1.22 million bags, which is 60,819.95 MT. This is only enough rice for two days at a daily rate of 679,670 bags, which is 33,983.5 MT. A government official said that, based on daily usage, a safe buffer stock should last for nine days.
An NFA report showed that the agency’s stock is good for 47 days based on its average daily sales of 26,085 bags.