Members of the Parks Development Office pull out dried leaves and other debris from the center Island along Burgos Avenue in Manila on May 2, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday assured the public that the country has enough food supply despite the threat of super El Niño in the coming months.
During an inspection of newly-rented National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in Victoria, Tarlac, Agriculture secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the government has been preparing for the possible worst case scenario to mitigate its impact.
READ: How can you prepare for El Niño? Climate Change Commission suggests measures
"Definitely kailangan natin punuin ito (NFA warehouse] ng bigas at palay para in case na bumaba ang produksyon sa El Niño, marami tayong buffer stock.," Tiu Laurel Jr. said.
"Meron tayong pondo na magdadagdag tayong fertilizers," he added. "Ang El Niño naman, while some areas are dry, there are areas na marmaing tubig. Meron din tayong fuel subsidy na ating mechanized farmers para makatulong.
"Of course, napakaimportante ng facilities na tulad nito para maging food secure tayo sa darating na El Niño."
"Sa palay we expect na 700,000 tons ang less ng production satin ng bigas. So, that has to be augmented someway, somehow, but I just like to tell everybody na as of the moment, secure na tayo even kung at the worst case scenario," he added.
According to the DA chief, there are 65 additional new warehouses in different parts of the country, totaling now to 364 nationwide.
The NFA is leasing 1,782 square meters of warehouse space from SL Agritech Corp. in Barangay Masalasa, Victoria, Tarlac, adding storage capacity for approximately 100,000 bags of palay. The facility is targeted for occupancy beginning October 1.
NFA administrator Larry Lacson said the agency has a seven-day buffer stock of rice.
“Ang NFA buffer stock naman natin is at seven days [na] buffer stock. Anong katumbas niyan sa bigas, 276,000 metric tons or around 5.5 million bags ang nasa bodega natin nationwide,” said Lacson.
According to Lacson, NFA will start buying palay of farmers in Tarlac starting Thursday, October 1.
“Yung presyo natin very competitive, P27 ang pinakamababa sa clean and dry. Roughly yung sa wet, P21-P22. And hindi kamukha nung nakaraan, hindi kami makatanggap, ngayon nakita ‘nyo naman open bodega, simula bukas tatanggap na kami,” Lacson told reporters.
The agriculture department is planning to have additional 36 drying facilities in different parts of the country to accommodate massive volume of palay.
Tiu Laurel Jr. said this project will be needing about P10 billion budget that will boost the capability of the government in buying palay of local farmers.
State weather bureau PAGASA has warned that the current strong El Niño may develop into a "very strong" event by the last quarter of 2026 and persist until early 2027.
El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a recurring climate pattern involving changes in ocean temperatures and atmospheric conditions over the tropical Pacific.