NPCC food security emergency reco expected next week – Marcos

(INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said on Friday that the National Price Coordinating Council’s (NPCC) recommendation to the Department of Agriculture (DA)  declare a food security emergency for rice will likely be received next week.

In an ambush interview in Leyte, Marcos was asked to comment on the DA’s proposed food crisis declaration.

“Well, they [DA] are still waiting for the recommendation of the [National] Price Coordinating Council (NPCC),” Marcos said.

“But maybe next week, the DA will formally receive their recommendation, and I believe it will be to declare an emergency,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

In a Palace briefing on Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said they are now awaiting the full recommendation from the NPCC, which urges the declaration of a food security emergency for rice before granting it a go signal.

While Laurel noted that it is the DA that will approve or deny the recommendation, he will present it to Marcos once he receives it.

“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 is not being followed because, even if you reduce all inputs, the selling price remains high,” Marcos said.

The National Food Authority warehouses currently store 300,000 metric tons of rice buffer stocks.

The DA’s food security emergency would authorize the release of these stocks to Kadiwa stores and local government units, making room for the expected new harvest in February.