Marcos admin wants rice self-sufficiency by end of term -Speaker Romualdez

Several months after the Department of  Agriculture (DA) said it was aiming to achieve 90%  rice self-sufficiency, House of Representatives Speaker Martin  Romualdez noted on Sunday that the Marcos administration was targeting to reach rice self-sufficiency by the end of its term in 2028.

In a statement, Romualdez —  President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.'s cousin —  said the DA and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) were working to boost the agriculture sector.

"Lahat ng ito  kino-converge natin para mas efficient ang paggamit ng pondo. Dati,  ‘yung DA may programa, NIA may programa parang hindi nag-uusap. Pero,  nag-uusap na tayo. So, we feel that sa puno’t dulo nito magkakaroon tayo ng rice self-sufficiency," he said.

(We are converging all of these so the funds are used efficiently. Previously, the DA had its programs, the NIA had its programs, and it seemed like there were no discussions between them. We are now talking, so we feel this  will lead us to rice self-sufficiency.)

"Yan ang (that is the) aspiration," he added when asked if the goal was for the Philippines to no longer import rice by 2028.

The DA in March said it intended to achieve more than 90%, rather than 100% rice self-sufficiency by the end of the Marcos administration.

“Hindi namin ini-aim ang rice self-sufficiency right now (We are not aiming for rice self-sufficiency right now)… We’re not aiming po kasi for  100%,” DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said then.

However, Romualdez said on Sunday that the administration was looking to improve food security, especially rice, through initiatives such as Comprehensive Irrigation Systems to be built by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

"Food security, is  national security. So, talagang mahalaga talaga itong programa na ito.  Unang-una, gusto nating ibaba ang presyo ng bigas na abot kaya ng lahat  ng Pilipino, kasi ang Presidente ayaw na ayaw niya na may mahirapan o  magutom na Pilipino,” he said.

(So this program is important. Firstly, we want to bring down the price of rice to what all  Filipinos can afford because the President does not want any Filipino  to have difficulty or go hungry.)

"Pero, hindi lang pwede na  ganun ang iniisip, kaya ang long-term plan niya ay bago siya bumaba, we  will no longer be dependent on rice imports. So, kailangan talaga rice  self-sufficiency. So, kailangan mas efficient ang mga palayan natin,  kailangan ng patubig at napakaraming patubig pa," Romualdez added.

(But this cannot be a mindset alone, so the long-term plan before he steps down is that we will no longer depend on rice imports. So we need to have rice self-sufficiency. We need to make our rice  fields more efficient, there needs to be water systems.)

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the country’s rice self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) stood at 77% in 2022, down from 81.5%  in 2022, and the lowest in 24 years since it was recorded at 72.1% in 1998.

Marcos, under Executive Order 62 issued last month, lowered tariff rates for rice to 15% until 2028 from the previous 35%.

Monitoring from the DA shows that rice prices in Metro Manila range from  P47.00 to P65.00 per kilogram for imported commercial rice, and from  P45.00 to P65.00 per kilogram for local commercial rice as of last  Thursday, July 4, 2024. — DVM, GMA Integrated News