Governor Isidro Zayco last night said governors from around the country yesterday were of the consensus that there is no rice shortage in the country, and that the problem is the increase in prices.

Members of the League of Provinces of the Philippines held their third general assembly at the Manila Hotel where Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap listened to their concerns, after which they met with the President in Malacañang yesterday.

At the league meeting, Zayco said he raised the need to find ways to bring down the cost of rice production to address the rising price of the grain in the retail market.

Yap told us all communal irrigation projects throughout the country will be rehabilitated and repaired until 2010 to boost rice production, Zayco said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo again assured that there is enough supply of rice to meet the needs of the people at the meeting with the governors.

The country’s rice supply is “secure for the foreseeable future,” she said.

The President also pointed out at the National Economic Development Authority-Cabinet Group meeting yesterday morning that the country’s inventory of rice continues to be beefed up by acquisitions of the commodity by the National Food Authority.

“Total contracted quantity of NFA rice from the Dec. 2007-March 2008 bidding is 1.2 million metric tons,” she said, of which 50 percent of the total, or 600,000 metric tons, have already arrived in the country.

In addition, another 66,000 metric tons are in transit to the Philippines while a separate shipment of 30,600 metric tons was being loaded at road ports.

“NFA is set to bid for additional rice stocks on May 2, subject to the approval of the Government Police Procurement Board,” the President said.

To help farmers cope with the current high prices of commodities, notably fuel and rice, she said the NFA will continue buying palay at P17 per kilo until May.

She stressed that her administration’s three Action Plans -- securing the supply of rice, ensuring its distribution, and protecting consumers against price gouging and corruption – are currently being implemented to ensure that the country’s rice supply situation remains stable.

Meanwhile, Zayco said provincial officials are set to meet with Bishop Vicente Navarra on the rice situation in Negros Occidental this morning.*CPG

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