MANILA – There is no rice shortage in the country, the supply is enough for current needs, but hoarders may be keeping them out of the market, Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol insisted.
“In spite of the reported shortage, there was actually no shortage of rice. Nagkaroon po ng speculation,” said Piñol in a Senate hearing.
The Department of Agriculture has two basic problems when it comes to rice, the Cabinet official noted, saying it “is not involved importation … and is not involved in the distribution of rice in the market.”
The surge in rice prices may have been caused by the delays in importation and the subsequent delay in releasing the imported commodity to the market.
“Siguro may nag-hoarding na iba … and the late importation also affected the market,” he said.
“October pa lang last year, nagrerequest na ‘yung NFA (National Food Administration) na mag-i-import sila ng NFA rice, na-delay po, hindi nabigyan ng go signal so nawalan ng NFA rice sa merkado,” he elaborated.
The Philippines in May imported 250,000 metric tons of rice to boost the supply in the country – 130,000 MT from Vietnam and 120,000 MT from Thailand.
It also announced an additional importation of 250,000 MT with private traders.
The NFA said, however, that shipments have yet to be fully released to retailers given the inclement weather conditions in the country.
Citing the most recent data avialable, Piñol said only half of the imported rice have been released so far into the market.
“Yung unang na-approve … ang dumating pa lang. Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, kalahati palang …” he said.
At this point, Piñol said prices are “starting to stabilize as the harvest season has started” in early September.
The Agriculture department estimates that crop year 2017-2018 would be a record harvest at 19.28 million MT, he said. (GMA News)
