No rice shortage amid plans to declare food security emergency

By Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency

As of Jan. 16, the price of imported and local regular and well-milled rice ranges from PHP37 to PHP53 per kilo in Metro Manila; while imported and local premium and special rice range from PHP48 to PHP65 per kilo, according to the DA Bantay-Presyo (price watch). (PNA file photo by Joan Bondoc)

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Saturday clarified that there is no rice supply shortage amid plans to declare a food security emergency.

“We just would like reiterate: There is no shortage in the supply of rice in the country,” DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa stressed at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

He noted that Republic Act 12078, which amended the Rice Tariffication Law, cites two main grounds for the DA Secretary to declare a food security emergency: Shortage in supply and extraordinary increase in the price of rice.

“The first main basis, lack of supply, it does not exist because we have a lot of supply. So, the only basis is your extraordinary increase in price,” De Mesa explained.

“We know that many initiatives have been taken by the government, the DA and the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), to lower the price.

First of all, the imposition of EO (Executive Order) 62 which reduces the tariff from 35 percent to 15 percent, there is also our program in Kadiwa and what else has been mentioned by our President. Despite all of these, rice prices remain elevated although we feel a decrease, but not to the level that we are expecting it to decrease,” he said.

Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

earlier said the DA will declare a “food security emergency for rice” before the end of January to address the spiking retail prices.

This came after the National Price Coordinating Council approved a resolution urging the DA to declare the emergency as prices remain high despite declining global rice costs and tariff reductions ordered by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

As of Jan. 16, the price of imported and local regular and well-milled rice ranges from PHP37 to PHP53 per kilo in Metro Manila; while imported and local premium and special rice range from PHP48 to PHP65 per kilo, according to the DA Bantay-Presyo (price watch).

De Mesa said high rice price is also one of the reasons why the DA is asking Congress to return the mandate on importation to the National Food Authority (NFA), “especially on two things: first, regarding regulation; second, the market intervention.”

“The secretary is no longer asking Congress for permission in relation to the importation capacity of the NFA, but rather on these two aspects. For that, to have regulation in the market and secondly, to intervene in the market without declaring an emergency,” he said.

De Mesa said the DA is also looking at classifying rice importation.

“We are looking at it but if you really look at your classification, at least for the imported rice, there is no premium or special. It is based on the degree of brokenness of the rice we import, again, 5 percent, 25 percent, 100 percent. In between you have 15 percent from time to time. So, your price when you get rice from Thailand, Vietnam, India, Pakistan or wherever, you always base it on percent of brokenness,” he said.

Laurel previously said he would propose the imposition of hybrid tariff on rice as part of efforts to lower prices.