President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has reassured the public that the country has enough rice stock even after next year's looming dry spell.

Marcos said this following a meeting with Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) and the Philippine Rice Stakeholders Movement (PRISM) in Malacañang on Tuesday, Aug. 8.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), the President called the meeting to discuss with stakeholders the status of the rice industry and measures to ensure sufficient rice supply in the country.

"The rice situation is manageable and stable. There is enough rice for the Philippines up to and after the El Niño next year," Marcos, who also leads the Department of Agriculture (DA), said.

During the meeting, DA Undersecretary Merceditas Sombillo said even with the low scenario with the assumption of a maintained production level, the projected ending stock for 2023 is 1.96 million metric tons (MMT), enough to last for 52 days.

She added that the ending stock projection based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority presents an even better scenario as the ending stock is projected at 2.12 MMT, which would last for 57 days.

Palay harvest season is set to start in September until November.

In an interview after the meeting, Rowena del Rosario-Sadicon, the lead convenor of PRISM, also assured the public that there would be enough rice supply until the end of the year.  

She said the outcome of the meeting with President Marcos and the PSAC was positive.

"We don't need to panic about anything else. Kalma lang po tayo (Let's calm down)," Rosario-Sadicon said.

"It's very important that we are one in our objective to be positive on this. Mayroon po tayong sapat na bigas (We have enough rice),” she added.