MANILA – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the importation of more rice to make up for the huge losses that the agricultural sector suffered from the two typhoons that hit the country, a senior Malacanang official reported.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that, aside from the importation, the President also ordered the distribution of free seedlings to the farmers affected by typhoons “Ondoy†and “Pepeng†that heavily destroyed rice and other agricultural crops within a week of each other.
Remonde said President Arroyo wants to extend immediate assistance to farmers displaced by the two typhoons to help them recover and ensure the country’s food supply in the coming months.
Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture disclosed that initial damage to the farm sector totaled the equivalent of $117 million. But he expressed fear that the figure would increase once his department makes a complete assessment of the damage incurred.
On September 26, Ondoy (international codename “Ketsanaâ€) brought heavy record-setting rainfall that inundated Metro Manila and destroyed thousands of hectares of farmland in the rice-producing regions in Central and Southern Luzon.
A week later, Pepeng (international codename “Parmaâ€) pummeled extreme Northern Luzon, particularly the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela in Cagayan Valley, also considered as the country’s major producer of corn and rice.
Moreover, more than three million victims have yet to recover from the floods that destroyed their homes and have taken refuge in the cramped evacuation centers, mostly school buildings, in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.
The Philippines is the world’s biggest importer of rice mainly because its farmers cannot cope with the rising demand for the cereal, the staple food of the 92 million Filipinos.
In 2008, Yap disclosed to buy about 2.3 million metric tons (mt) of rice despite the record rice prices to make up for the shortfall in domestic production. This year, it has so far imported 1.7 million mt of rice from Vietnam.
Earlier Yap, assured that the Philippines has enough rice supply, despite the extensive damage wrought by Ondoy and Pepeng to the farmlands.
Because of the two typhoons, Yap also disclosed that the country might be forced to import chicken and pork to address a looming supply shortage ahead of the expected rise in demand due to the coming Christmas holidays.
He cited a report from the state-owned National Food Authority (NFA) that even with the typhoons, it has a total stockpile of 25.2 million bags of rice, enough to cover the 36 days of the country’s total demand of 708,000 bags for daily consumption.
The commercial and household stocks, meanwhile, stand at 7.4 million and 14.5 milliion bags, respectively, placing the country’s total grains inventory at 57.3 million bags, or 1.26 million mt which are enough the meet the country’s requirements for the next 67 days, Yap said.
He pointed out that, if not for the destructive visit of the two typhoons, the Philippines was hoping to harvest a record 17.5 million mt of paddy rice for the whole of 2009, with the first half output already at 7.38 million mt.
With enough buffer stock for the rest of 2009, Yap, however, admitted his main worry is how to fill the needs for the first half of 2010 due to the expected supply crunch that could again result in the emergence of long lines of consumers waiting for their turn to buy rice from government mobile stores.
Experts also pointed out that since 2010 would be an election year, it would do well for the government to ensure an adequate supply, particularly of rice.
According to experts, rice, or the lack of it, is a potent political issue that can make or unmake a president as it has done so in the past.
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