There is enough rice – GMA

President Arroyo has assured there is sufficient supply of rice in the entire country, especially in Metro Manila, despite the adverse effects of the prolonged dry spell in eight provinces in Luzon and the impact of heavy rains and floods brought about by typhoons “Dodong” and “Egay.”

Mrs. Arroyo issued the statement during a visit to the south district warehouse of the National Food Authority (NFA) at the Food Terminal Inc. Complex in Taguig City on Saturday where she found a buffer stock of rice enough to meet the needs of consumers in Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

“We have enough food and we have enough rice,” Mrs. Arroyo said in Filipino in opening remarks at the Pulong-Bayan held inside the warehouse where bags of rice are piled up to the beam and served as a background in the discussion.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap earlier warned unscrupulous rice traders not to take advantage of the poor weather conditions to hoard rice or jack up prices.

The “Pulong-Bayan” concept was first introduced by Mrs. Arroyo down the 2004 presidential election campaign to make sure that all government development projects were brought to the attention of the people everywhere.

Upon her arrival, she inspected the NFA rolling store that sells iron-fortified rice, which is also distributed free under the ongoing food-for-school program of the administration.

During the Pulong-Bayan with the barangay leaders and Barangay Food Terminal (BFT) operators, the President instructed Yap to put up more Tindahan Natin and rolling stores in strategic areas in Metro Manila, especially during lean months and rainy season.

Aside from Yap, joining with Mrs. Arroyo in the discussion were Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando, NFA Administrator Jessup Navarro, and Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tinga.

She said the government has allotted half a billion for the construction of irrigation projects and another P500 million for the building of farm-to-market roads to ensure sufficient supply of rice and the speedy delivery of farm produce to the consumers.

“We implemented the Roll-On, Roll-Off ferry systems to bring rice and other agricultural produce from Mindanao to Metro Manila at lower costs,” she said, adding that agricultural products from the Visayas and Mindanao will be sold at cheaper prices made possible by reduced transportation costs through the RO-RO system.

She said the number of families in the country who were experiencing severe hunger was reduced to one-half due to the successful implementation of the “food-for-school project.”

She said the government has allocated P2 billion for the food-for-school project for 2008 to further reduce the incidence of hunger.