BY REGINA BENGCO

PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday said there will be no rice shortage but prices are expected to rise further.

"Medyo mas mamahal ng kaunti pero walang shortage. Tuloy-tuloy ang supply," Arroyo said during a visit to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway project.

The National Food Authority sells rice at P18.25 a kilo. Prices of commercial rice range from P25 to P30 a kilo. Last month, commercial rice was sold at P24 to P30 a kilo.

(The government reported yesterday that it had bought 140,000 tons of rice from Thailand, Vietnam, and Pakistan at $708 a ton, a price about 50 percent higher from the delivery last January. See Business Section.)

Arroyo said she brought a rice hauler from the NFA with her because "we want to signal that the supply chain of rice can meet the demand."

Arroyo said the "food, trade, and fun" highway that is SCTEX will move people and products safely to Metro Manila, from the rice granary of Cagayan Valley to the salad bowl of the Cordilleras, and the fruit basket that is Nueva Vizcaya.

She said export products from Clark Special Economic Zone, Bataan, Subic Freeport, and Baguio can also exit by air via Clark or by sea via Subic.

The SCTEX would also ferry tourists and vacationers to tourism sites in Ilocos, Baguio, Zambales, Bataan, Pangasinan, La Union, and Aurora.

The Philippines, one of the world’s biggest importers of rice, is having difficulty sourcing supplies of up to 1.8 million tons of rice this year as prices have risen due to rising demand and tight inventories.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said if Filipinos could be more sparing in rice consumption, imports could go down by 37 percent to 1.17 million tons compared to last year’s import requirement of 1.87 million tons.

Yap said the country has enough reserve for the next two months.

Aside from the 57-day rice stockpile, the summer harvests will add to the country’s stocks.

"I would like to make it clear that we are not undergoing a rice shortage right now. A visit to our markets shows that rice is present everywhere. There are no food lines, no rationing, no queues," Yap said during his visit to Muñoz market in Quezon City.

But he said the NFA must prudently manage rice stocks. Rice production must also continue to rise and conservation measures must be put in place because of the supply problem in the world market.

"Due to high crude oil cost which has made transport and fertilizer cost rise sharply, and the effects of climate change in rice production areas, global rice stocks are tight. It is not a question of price anymore but a question of supply. You may have the money but there are no rice supplies to buy," he said.

He appealed to the public to help the DA crack down on NFA executives colluding with rice dealers in diverting low-priced rice to commercial outlets.

Yap said the public can report illegal diversions by sending a text message to No. 0917-621-09-27 or calling its hotline — 494-01-79.

Sen. Mar Roxas said government should be more transparent about the impending problem of diminished rice supply and higher prices, and to focus on real solutions.

"Yung secretary of agriculture ay nagsasabi na kailangang magkalahating kanin na lang tayo, tapos sasabihin na wala tayong problema. Kailangang tanggapin natin na may problema tayo para makausad tayo at makahanap ng solusyon," said Roxas, chairman of the Senate committee on trade and commerce.

Yap on Monday said he would ask food outlets to introduce half orders of rice to avoid wastage.

Roxas said this year’s estimate for imported rice was 2 million metric tons, as part of the Philippines’ 12 million-ton consumption of rice annually. However, he said there is no longer a surplus for importation.

Roxas has urged government to release the calamity fund for local government units, so farmers could buy seeds, fertilizers and other needs to increase production.

The farmers group the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas said Yap’s move to ask food outlets to introduce half orders of rice is only a "band aid" solution like other stopgap measures he is planning.

"The real, thorough-going and long lasting solution to this problem is genuine agrarian reform and an immediate stop to land use conversion as well as crop conversion," said KMP chairman Rafael Mariano.

Mariano also criticized government’s focus on biofuels crop production, and the allotment of large tracts of land to multinational companies, which he said is reducing farmlands dedicated to rice.

"As of now, agro-corporations control at least 200,000 hectares of our lands. DOLE controls 90,000 hectares, Tadeco 55,000 hectares, Phil. Packing Corp. 44,000, Del Monte 20,000 and with the RP-China agricultural deals at least 1.2 million hectares will be added to this for jatropha trees. So the land allotted for rice production will drastically be reduced," Mariano said.