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House Speaker hyped over 'historic rice harvest'

Philippines | National

House Speaker hyped over 'historic rice harvest'

By Ellson Quismorio

At A Glance

House Speaker Martin Romualdez described the country's 20-million metric ton (MT) rice production for 2023 as historic and exceptional.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker’s office)

A historic rice harvest.

That's how House Speaker Martin Romualdez described the country’s 20-million metric ton (MT) rice production for 2023, which was a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year's output.

"This exceptional achievement by our hardworking farmers is truly deserving of praise. They are undeniably the cornerstone and solution to our nation's rice scarcity,” Speaker Romualdez, the leader of the 300-plus-strong House of Representatives, said in a statement Sunday, Feb. 11.

"This historic rice harvest signifies a glimmer of hope in resolving the rice shortage predicament we faced in the past year,” noted the Leyte 1st district congressman. Rice is the staple food of Filipinos.

He commended President Marcos and Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. for their unwavering dedication to boost agricultural modernization and food production despite the challenges posed by El Niño.

President Marcos, a first cousin of the Speaker, proudly announced the significant achievement in rice production for the Philippines last Feb. 2.

"Our combined efforts have resulted in an impressive rice production exceeding 20 million metric tons in 2023," the President declared.

The Chief Executive emphasized that the remarkable rice production played a crucial role in bolstering the overall value of production in the agriculture and fisheries sectors to P1.763 trillion in 2023. This surpassed the P1.757 trillion recorded in 2022.

It was September 2023 when Speaker Romualdez led agencies in the raid of warehouses in Bulacan province due to reports of rice hoarding.

Related Tags

Martin Romualdez President Marcos Rice production

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