DA chief echoes Duterte’s statement: No rice shortage in PH

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Manny Piñol on Monday echoed President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that there is no shortage of rice and food in the Philippines.

“The problem that we are facing right now is simply speculation. There is no shortage of food, there is no shortage of rice. There is enough (supply),” Piñol told reporters.

The President made the same statement earlier, claiming that there is sufficient rice for the entire country.

He attributed allegations of rice shortage to “politics.” “Ngayon sinasabi nila na may shortage daw ng bigas. Eh marami namang bigas, paparating pa nga dito eh. Ngayon sumobra nga,” Duterte said during his meeting with the Filipino community in Israel.

“You know, those are politics. I would like to remind you that I won because of the vote of the Filipino,” he added.

Meanwhile, Piñol shot down proposals to declare a nationwide state of calamity and enforce a price freeze. Recently, the city of Zamboanga adopted the same strategy, after prices of rice surged to P60 to P70 per kilo.

He claimed that laws and safety nets are already in place. “There is no need for that, we only have to make the law work, and we only have to work harder,” Piñol said.

READ: Duterte assures public: There’s ‘plenty of rice’

Rice with ‘bokbok’

The possibility of a rice shortage was raised after the National Food Authority (NFA) admitted on August 23 that some 133,000 sacks of rice stored inside a ship in Subic, and 177,000 sacks in Albay were infested with “bokbok” or rice weevils.

People expressed concern after NFA said the infested sacks or rice would be fumigated to remove the insects.

Government officials, including Piñol and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, assured that the rice is safe to eat.   /vvp

READ: Removing ‘bokbok’ from sacks of rice might delay deliveries — NFA

Zamboanga City under state of calamity due to rice shortage

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