The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday said food security emergency for rice may be declared on Jan. 22, following the approved resolution of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) last week.
“By Wednesday there will be an action from the Secretary (Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.), being siya ‘yung talaga may (being the one with the) responsibility towards the declaration of a food security emergency,” DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in an interview.
Tiu Laurel earlier said that he’s likely to declare a food security emergency to address spiking retail prices of rice and enable the release of rice stocks from the National Food Authority (NFA).
“But ang sabi ni Secretary, kapag na-receive ngayon, tuloy ang review ngayon araw hanggang bukas (The secretary said that once we receive it today, we will continue with the review today until tomorrow, Tuesday),” De Mesa said.
Under the food security emergency, the DA can sell NFA rice stocks, even those not yet considered aging, to local government units (LGUs) and other government agencies at PHP36 per kilogram, which can be sold to up to PHP38/kg starting Feb. 1; free up space in NFA warehouses; and help local farmers through palay (unhusked rice) procurement for the coming harvest season.
De Mesa explained that the sale of NFA rice may go hand in hand with other government’s efforts to stabilize retail prices of rice, considering the record-high palay procurement of the NFA last year.
To date, the NFA has almost 300,000 metric tons of rice stocks, which can be sold to LGUs and other government agencies like the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and government-owned and controlled corporations. (PNA)
