Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said on Monday he has proposed the importation of an additional 132,000 tons (T) of rice by the private sector to address “very limited” supplies of the staple food in the country’s southern provinces. The Department of Agriculture (DA) chief likewise said there was nothing wrong with the forthcoming importation of 17,000 metric tons (MT) of galunggong, which will be sold directly to local markets – the first time to happen since imported galunggong is normally meant for processing and canning purposes only. Meanwhile, the government recently allowed the importation of fresh, chilled, and frozen galunggong (round scad) to augment the local supply in the fresh markets as well as stabilize the prices.

Miraflor, M. B. (2018, August 28). PH eyes more rice fish imports. Manila Bulletin, pp. 1, 4.