President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. appeased the worry of farmers and the general public, saying the country had enough supply of rice and that the Philippines would not import rice for as long the situation stays the same.

Marcos said this in the wake of the two typhoons ravaging parts of the country and damaging the agriculture sector.

In his recent vlog released on Saturday evening, Aug. 5, the President clarified that the country's rice supply was enough.

He noted that Super Typhoon Egay alone left P3 billion worth of damages in the agriculture sector, while 142,000 hectares of agricultural land were affected.

"Upang malinawan po tayo, kaklaruhin ko lang. Meron po tayong sapat na supply ng bigas at wala tayong dapat ipangamba (So that it's clear to us, I want to clarify. We have enough rice supply and we have nothing to worry about)," he said.

"Dapat asahan ng ating magsasaka na hindi tayo mag-i-import kung sapat ang supply dito sa Pilipinas. Huwag sana kayong mabahala. Meron tayong bigas (Our farmers should expect that we won't import rice if we have enough supply in the Philippines. Don't worry. We have rice)," he added.

Buffer stock

According to the President, the government is closely monitoring the rice buffer stock under the National Food Authority (NFA).

"Tinitiyak natin na ang NFA ay dumami ang buffer stock dahil dumarami rin itong mga sakuna na dumadating dito sa Pilipinas (We're ensuring that the NFA has more buffer stock because we also encounter more calamities here in the Philippines)," he said.

However, Marcos said the problem is that other Southeast Asian countries are also securing their buffer stock to prepare for the looming El Niño by late this year or early 2024.

"Lahat tayo ay naghahanda para sa El Niño. Kaya't ang mahirap diyan ay lahat-lahat sabay-sabay namimili (All of us are preparing for the El Niño. That's why it's difficult because all of us are buying at the same time)," he said.

President Marcos, who also heads the Department of Agriculture (DA), said that countries exporting rice started to limit, if not stop, exporting the commodity. This supposedly included India, with which he initially eyed having a rice deal.

According to the President, he is talking with the people he met during his overseas trips to secure the country's rice buffer stock.

"Naghahanap tayo ng mga kaibigan natin. Mabuti naman at marami sa kanila ay nakilala ko sa mga biyahe-biyahe, kinakausap natin ngayon (We're looking at our friends. It's a good thing that I met many of them during my travels. I'm talking to them now)," he said.

"Baka mabigyan tayo ng pagkakataon makapag-import galing sa kanila. Ngunit gagawin lang natin ito kung hindi sapat ang supply (They might allow us to import rice from their country. But we'll only do that if we don't have enough rice supply)," he added.