PH has ample food supply – Dar
AGRICULTURE Secretary William Dar on Tuesday gave assurances that the Philippines would have sufficient food supply, even if Metro Manila and other areas had been placed under modified enhanced community quarantine ( MECQ).
In a virtual press briefing, he stressed that the strict lockdown would not affect food supply, noting that current inventories of basic food were more than enough to cover the demand during the MECQ period.
“Basesaating monitoring of the food supply situation aymayroon ta yong sap at nap ag kai n—from rice, meronding vegetables and fruits, at chicken aysobra-sobra po.Ganundinang fisheries (Based on our monitoring of the food supply situation in the country, we have enough supply of food — from rice, vegetables and fruits. The supply of chicken is more than enough, as well as fishery products),” Dar said.
“Angatingimo- monitor po ayang move men tng food supply para hindi ma ant ala, para yung gal in gs aka nay una nat mg a pro bins ya ay san aw a lang problem a checkpoint (We are monitoring the movement of the food supply so it will not be hampered and so that [the supplies] coming from provinces will not be impeded at checkpoints),” he added. Stopped
Dar made the statement after residents in MECQ areas crowded markets and grocery stores to stock up on food and other essentials.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said there was no reason to hoard basic goods as there were adequate stocks in supermarkets during the community quarantine period.
He explained that the revival of MECQ in the National Capital Region and four provinces was aimed at meeting the appeal of health frontliners for a timeout to ease the strain of the coronavirus pandemic on the health care system.
“Mg aka ba bay an,w alan gd ah il an panic buying. Unang-unaangpagsara na tin mu li, ito’ ykatu gun anna tin mga frontliners nakinakailangan langnilang break. Ibigsabihin wa lat al agata yong plano mag lock down. An gating supply ay napakataas (There is no reason to engage in panic buying. The lockdown is meant to respond to the appeal of our frontliners to take a break. It means we had no plan to impose a lockdown. Our supply is more than enough),” the spokesman said during a televised press briefing.
President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal and Cavite under MECQ status from August 4 to 18 to limit the spread of coronavirus infections.