New strategies needed to ensure food security

MANILA – It is imperative for the government to come up with “new” strategies to ensure food security amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Malacañang said on Thursday.

“Kinakailangan panibagong strategy na tayo dahil talagang Covid-19 changed completely ‘yung ating pang-araw-araw na pamumuhay (We need a new strategy because Covid-19 really changed completely our daily lives),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual press conference.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to conduct a food security summit with local government units and the private sector to discuss ways to boost food production in the country.

The plan to hold a summit came as Covid-19 triggered the sudden spike in prices of several food items, including pork and chicken.

Roque said the food security summit aims to address hunger problem that has become worse amid the pandemic.

“Alam nating halos kalahati ng ating mga kababayan ngayon ay nakaka-experience ng pagkagutom. So obligasyon pa rin ng estado na bigyang katuparan ang karapatan ng lahat ng mamamayang Pilipino na magkaroon ng sapat na kakainin (Hunger is being experienced by almost half of our population. So, it’s the state’s obligation is to ensure that all Filipinos have sufficient food),” he said.

A survey conducted last year by the private polling firm Social Weather Stations found that 7.5 million Filipinos experienced hunger during the pandemic.

Roque said the DA has yet to schedule this year’s food security summit.

Malacañang is expecting that the planned summit would result in the crafting of a national food security plan which aims to make the Philippines a “food-secure and resilient” country.

Due to the rising food prices reported in the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order 124 on Feb. 1 to impose a price cap on select pork and chicken products in Metro Manila for 60 days.

EO 124 implements a price ceiling of PHP270 per kilo for pork kasim and pigue, PHP300 per kilo for pork liempo, and PHP160 per kilo for dressed chicken.

The Department of Trade and Industry is also planning to lower the suggested retail price for imported pork in groceries and supermarkets.