Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (Rep. Salceda's office)

The overall chairman of the House quinta-committee (quinta-comm) has told Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr. to immediately follow through on his pronouncement to invoke a "food security emergency" to stabilize rice prices.

"Good. That’s what the Murang Pagkain Supercommittee has been asking the DA to do," Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda said in reaction to Laurel's recent statement. 

"The DA is not at all powerless under the law to curb price manipulation in the rice market," he underscored. 

"I thank Secretary Kiko Tiu Laurel and urge him to follow through as soon as possible," Salceda said.

"We should see a price reduction of at least P6 per kilo as a result of stricter enforcement against hoarding," noted the quinta-comm lead chairman.

The DA earlier said that Laurel was considering several measures to address rice price volatility, "including invoking a food security emergency under the amended Rice Tariffication Law, which would allow the release of buffer stocks from the National Food Authority (NFA) to stabilize prices".

Rice is the Filipino staple food.

Salceda said the Murang Pagkain Supercommittee also asked the DA to look into warehouses and work with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to do post-clearance inspections of imported stocks.

"We need action from the DA sooner rather than later, so I hope the study process doesn’t last beyond a few days," he said.