ZAMBOANGA CITY — Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the local government units (LGU) should have their own food security program to ensure year-round supply for constituents.

Piñol’s statement came after the city reported a shortage of commercial rice supply brought about by the stoppage of imported “smuggled” rice shipment.

“We see the absence of the usual imported smuggled rice in the markets of Zambasulta (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi) areas. This has resulted in a (rice) shortage in Zamboanga (City),” Piñol said.

“It has been proven once again that it is wrong to rely on imported rice because historically, the ZamBaSulTa areas have been dependent on smuggled rice and we all know it,” he said.

Despite the shortage, Piñol said the government will not tolerate rice smuggling, describing it as “an unwanted solution” to the problem.

“Funny, that we have to admit it that the successful campaign against rice smuggling was one reason behind the shortage of rice supply in Zamboanga City,” he said.

Rice shortage in a particular locality can be averted if LGU have their own food security programs. He said such should include an inventory of the food demand based on the population as well as the volume of local production plus outside sources.

“While our mandate in the DA (Department of Agriculture) is to support them (LGU) to produce more (rice), the local planning should be actually handled by the LGU,” he said.

Piñol flew to this city Monday afternoon following reports that the prices of rice have risen as high as P80 a kilo due to the scarcity of commercial rice.

Piñol, accompanied by National Food Authority (NFA) officials, discovered the warehouses of licensed commercial rice traders were empty when they conducted a surprise inspection.

“There was no hoarding (of rice). There is really lack of supply,” he said.

The DA chief said he has requested the NFA in other regions to provide additional 10,000 bags of rice of 50 kilos each to augment allocation of the city.

A cargo ship loaded with rice imported by the NFA arrived last week and unloaded 120,000 bags. Of the total, 40,000 bags had been allocated for this city and the rest was shipped to other areas in the region and the BaSulTa.

Piñol said rice supply in the city should soon stabilize as farmers are set to harvest in the coming weeks.

In Zambales, the rains have stalled the unloading of some 800,000 bags of imported government-subsidized rice in Subic Bay, north of the capital, the National Food Authority said Tuesday.

These could have augmented relief supplies in Metro Manila, parts of which were swamped by monsoon rains over the weekend, NFA spokesperson Rex Estoperez said.

Despite the delay in delivery, the supply of NFA rice in markets and relief operations remains sufficient, he said.

The supply of commercial rice in Metro Manila is also enough, despite higher grain prices in Quezon City’s Mega Q Mart, said Estoperez.

Three storms outside the country are enhancing the monsoon rains over Luzon, according to weather bureau PAGASA.

In a related development, the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a measure seeking to replace quantitative restrictions on rice with tariffs.

The chamber approved House Bill 7735, or the proposed “Revised Agricultural Tariffication Act,” which President Rodrigo Duterte urged Congress to immediately pass during his third State of the Nation Address.

The measure primarily aims to protect agricultural product producers, ensure food security and provide for a viable and globally-competitive agricultural sector.

It is also seen to stabilize rice prices and address artificial rice shortage.

Under the bill, a maximum bound rate commitments of the Philippines under the World Trade Organization (WTO), or tariffs, will be imposed on agricultural products instead of quantitative restrictions.

Quantitative restrictions are the non-tariff restrictions used to limit the volume of imported commodities, including discretionary import licensing and import quotas.

The corresponding tariffs will be imposed by the President.

In terms of quantitative restriction on rice, the maximum bound rate will be as notified by the Philippines to the WTO. With reports from R.G. Antonet A. Go/PNA