DA assures food supply enough amid extended quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) assured that the country has enough food supply amid the extension of the enhanced community quarantine placed on Metro Manila and other “high-risk” areas in Luzon to May 15.

“We made the assurance during last night’s meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, after he formally extended the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and other regions in Luzon,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said Friday in a release.

“As we have been reporting since the start of the COVID-19, our inventory for basic food commodities shows we have more than enough supply this year. We always reiterate this to avoid panic among our citizens,” he added.

At the end of December, the country will have rice supply good for 94 days, corn supply good for 234 days, fish supply good for two days, vegetable supply good for six days, and chicken supply good for 253 days, according to Dar.

The DA chief presented the food supply outlook for 2020, with most commodities ending with a surplus at year-end, during a meeting with the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday.

Dar earlier reported that the country has enough meat supply amid the ECQ, but encouraged consumers to consider shifting to poultry products as there is more chicken supply than pork.

“As we will experience some contraction in pork supply of around 43 days, we encourage consumers to shift to other alternative sources of protein like chicken, ducks, eggs, and processed meat products,” Dar said.

The DA forecasts that throughout the year, 11 regions will enjoy chicken surplus, while seven regions will produce more pork than their respective requirements, based on field reports and consultations with hog and poultry industry stakeholders.

Duterte during a virtual press conference on Thursday evening, which aired Friday morning, ordered the extension of the ECQ in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and the provinces of Pangasinan, Benguet, Albay, Catanduanes and Mindoro due to the continuous spread of the novel coronavirus.

EDV