Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles denied that the government was late in addressing the shortage of the supply of pork and now galunggong in the market, saying supplies will most likely be stabilized this month.
Nograles made the statement after food inflation drove the Philippines' inflation rate to 4.7 percent in February 2021, the highest since the 4.4 percent recorded in January 2019.
In an interview with Super Radyo DZBB, Nograles said the government implemented measures because it had anticipated the effects of the shortage of pork supply on the inflation rate.
"Kaya nagkaroon ng mga decisions tulad ng MAV, pagdadala ng pork supply galing sa mga regions (That's why we had decisions regarding the minimum access volumes applicable to importing pork from other regions)," he said Sunday morning.
The Palace official, however, admitted that the said measures were only short-term solutions to the problem.
"Kailangan natin ng (We need) mid- to long-term solutions. That's the reason why we need to increase yung supply ng pork (the supply of work)," he said.
"Hindi naman natin ma-increase dito locally dahil meron pa tayong nilalabanan na ASF. Kaya nga we're looking into importation para lang ma-stabilize natin (We cannot increase the supply locally because we are still facing the African swine fever (ASF). That's why we're looking into importation so we can stabilize the supply)," he added.
"Kailangan po talaga natin ng repopulation which ginagawa naman ng DA (We really need to repopulate, something that the Department of Agriculture is doing now)," he continued.
When it comes to the shortage of fish, particularly galunggong, Nograles said the government is looking at increasing the supplies of other varieties of fish like tilapia and bangus.
"Hopefully pag nag-open season na po tayo, daragdag yung supply natin ng fish (Hopefully we can increase the supply of fish during the open season)," he said.
"We're looking also at increased supplies sa ibang klaseng isda--bangus, tilapia-- kasi yun nako-control pa natin (We're looking at increased supplies of other fish like bangus and tilapia because we can still control them)," he added.
According to Nograles, the spike in the country's inflation rate and the shortage of the supply of pork and fish is only temporary.
"The pork prices are merely temporary at magkakaroon agad ng meeting ang Monetary Board (ng Bangko Sentral) para i-assess at i-dissect yung drivers ng inflation (the monetary board will meet to assess and dissect the drivers of inflation)," he said.
"Gagawa ng hakbang ang BSP, ang monetary board para ma-temper natin ang inflation. Although, sabi nila (The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the monetary board will undertake measures to temper the inflation. Although, they said that) it's just a temporary increase and we'll be able to stabilize it by March," he added.
On Friday, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the spike in the country's inflation was caused by the increase in meat prices, which saw an inflation rate of 20.7 percent last month from 17.1 percent in January.
The country has done measures to address the food problem in the country. This includes President Duterte's Executive Order No. 124, which imposed a 60-day price ceiling on selected pork and chicken products in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The government has also moved hogs from Visayas and Mindanao and Luzon provinces free from the ASF and transporting them to major public markets in Metro Manila.
The government also provided a transport subsidy for pork coming from different ASF-free areas, among others.