NATIONAL GOVERNMENT MAY LIKELY DECLARE A FOOD SECURITY EMERGENCY


President Marcos Jr. expressed support for the declaration of a food security emergency to bring down the prices of rice in the country (Photo courtesy of Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed support for the declaration of food security emergency, saying it is needed for the market to work properly amid the rising prices of rice. Noting that this measure is being taken to lower the price of rice in the country.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) recently announced that it would declare a food security emergency by the end of January after the retail price of rice continued to spiral despite declining global rice costs and tariff reductions.
Under Republic Act 12078 or the law amending the Agricultural Tariffication Act, the Agriculture Secretary has the power to declare a food security emergency on rice due to a supply shortage or extraordinary increase in prices.
The National Price Coordinating Council recently approved a resolution urging the Department of Agriculture to declare a "food security emergency for rice" as the prices of the commodity remained high.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said that the possibility of declaring a ''food security emergency for rice' is ''justified,'' saying that there is sufficient data to support this action.
Adding that this week a food security emergency would enable the National Food Authority (NFA) to sell rice stocks to local government units (LGUs) and other government agencies at a lower price.
It will also free up space in NFA warehouses and help local farmers through palay procurement for the coming harvest season. The NFA has nearly 300,000 metric tons of rice in stock, which can be sold to LGUs and other government agencies.
Furthermore, President Marcos Jr. stated that “The reason that we are doing this is that we have done everything to lower the price of rice but the market is not being allowed to work properly.”
“The demand and supply curve cannot be followed because until now even if you lower all inputs, sales are still high. And so, we have to force that price down and we have to make sure that the market works properly without friction costs that occur due to various things,” he added.
Source: ABS-CBN News
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