DECLARING a “rice emergency,” as suggested by lawmakers, is fine with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. — if only to fight rice profiteers.
The idea was broached in a hearing of the “Murang Pagkain” Super Committee at the House of Representatives, in which the problem of fluctuating rice prices was discussed, and National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Larry Lacson said the agency has a buffer stock of 5.5 million sacks of 50-kilogram rice.
“If the declaration of a rice emergency will allow us to sell the NFA stocks of almost 6 million bags at whatever cost we want to sell it to the public, then yes, that’s good,” Tiu Laurel told reporters during a visit to the Guadalupe Public Market on Thursday.
Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. PHOTO FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Recently, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 12078, which amended the Rice Tariffication Law and gave the agriculture secretary the power to declare a food security emergency upon the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council — in case of supply shortages or unusual price fluctuations.
“This is the best way to hit them — where it hurts,” Tiu Laurel said, referring to unscrupulous traders overcharging consumers.
In the meantime, the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured the public of a sufficient supply of Noche Buena food items for the holidays.
DA spokesman and Assistant Secretary for Operations Arnel de Mesa also noted that the country’s rice stocks would be good for three months. “Even when the lean months come and we would not be harvesting rice until March or April, we have enough stocks of rice,” he said.
The Philippines has surpassed its volume of rice imports compared to last year, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States.
No shortage in pork, fish
De Mesa likewise said there were no shortages in pork and fish supplies amid African swine fever outbreaks and the closed-fishing season — in which key areas are off-limits to large-scale fishing for specified periods.
He added that the DA is maintaining efforts to stabilize prices of agricultural commodities and boost local agricultural production. The agency, he pointed out, will be launching projects in farm irrigation, and opening cold storage and postharvest facilities in 2025.
Despite the successive typhoons, and El Niño and La Niña cycles, de Mesa said, the DA has successfully lowered the prices of some food items — sugar and onions, for instance.
The DA, de Mesa continued, has also given farmers more access to markets via the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program and an office to handle exports. The office is headed by DA assistant secretaries on logistics and exports of key agricultural commodities. The same office helped in making the Philippines the first Asian country to export Hass avocados to Japan.
There is likewise an expanded list of fruits for export, like durian, which is now being shipped to China.
De Mesa said the DA’s primary mandate is to boost the earnings of farmers and fisherfolk by helping decrease production costs.
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