President Marcos reassured the public that the Philippines had enough rice supply, but admitted that the agriculture sector needed to be fixed.

Marcos said this as he led the distribution of sacks of rice worth P2.5 million to 2,000 indigent families and indigenous peoples at the University of Saint Anthony in Iriga, Camarines Sur, on Saturday, Sept. 23.

In his speech, the President assured the public that the Philippines had enough supply of rice.

"Marami naman tayong bigas hindi lang nailalabas nang tama. Kaya’t hindi problema ang supply sa atin dito sa Pilipinas (We have plenty of rice but we haven't been getting them out properly. That's why supply is not a problem in the Philippines)," he said.

"Sabi ng Department of Agriculture ay mas malaki ang ani natin ngayon taon na ito kaysa sa nakaraan kaya’t sa production side naman ay nagiging maayos (The DA said we are producing more rice this year than last year so our production side is okay)," he added.

Marcos explained that he went to Camarines Sur to distribute rice as he recognized the increasing price of the staple grain.

However, he admitted that the measures the government had implemented so far, like the price cap, were insufficient.

"Ang dami pa rin kulang, ang dami pa rin kulang sa pag-distribute (It's still not enough. There are more we need to distribute)," he said.

"Kailangan natin ayusin ang sistema mula sa pagtanim, mula sa pag-research and development hanggang sa pagtanim hanggang sa processing hanggang sa distribution, marketing, hanggang sa retail (We need to fix the system from planting, research and development, processing, distribution, to retail)," he added.

In an interview following the event, the President acknowledged that his government must immediately implement measures to fix the agriculture sector.

"Hindi natin kayang gawin yung gusto nating gawin kung hindi tayo mag-aayos ng ating agrikultura (We cannot do what we want if we won't fix our agriculture)," he said.