President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. said the country may be needing to import rice from India due to the damages of Typhoon Egay to the country's rice supply and to prepare for the looming threat to El Niño.
Marcos, who also sits as the Agriculture Chief, bared the rice importation plan during a situational briefing on the effects of Typhoon Egay with Cagayan Valley officials on Saturday.
"'Yung high-value crops, hindi ako masyadong worried diyan dahil madali lang makabawi.... I'm thinking about the national supply for rice because ini-import lahat ng Indonesia, nagsara ang Vietnam," he said.
"Maghahanap na naman tayo ng bagong [importer]..... India nagsara. Pero I think I can make a deal with India. Baka meron tayong mapakiusapan dun. But we have to start importing already," the President added.
Marcos stressed that every Southeast Asian country has been preparing for the forthcoming El Nino, with most of them stocking rice supply in their buffers.
"Kaya ninenerbyos ako tataas na naman ang presyo kahit mag-import tayo," he stressed.
Based on the latest monitoring from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), about 120,414.86 volumes of production were lost due to Typhoon Egay and the Southwest Monsoon with an estimated damage cost of P1.96 million.
This has had a severe impact on 114,565 farmers and 148,788.76 hectares of crops.
Earlier, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) announced that weak El Niño has begun in the Tropical Pacific and it may strengthen in the next months.
The state weather bureau said that the aggregate negative impacts of the El Niño phenomenon such as dry spells will be felt in most areas in the Philippines by the last quarter of 2023 and the first half of 2024.
