DILIMAN, Quezon City — With the declaration for the food security emergency expected to be announced tomorrow, January 4, the Department of Agriculture (DA) clarified that the move will only be applicable to areas experiencing skyrocketing rice prices.

According to DA spokesperson Asec. Arnel De Mesa, the emergency declaration is based on the Republic Act (RA) 12078, which amends the Rice Tariffication Law and gives the agriculture secretary the authority to declare food security emergencies in areas where food supply shortage or extraordinary price increase are observed.

“Base kasi sa RA 12078 ay mag-intervene tayo doon sa mga lugar na may matataas, o nararanasan iyong extraordinary presyo ng bigas so doon lang din mag-iintervene ang NFA . . . Kung mababa naman iyong presyo sa ganitong lugar, hindi naman iyon tinitignan,” De Mesa explained in a radio interview.

Agriculture secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. disclosed that the government will declare the rice emergency as the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) released a resolution to recommend the emergency due to the “extraordinary increase” in rice prices.

De MESA meanwhile added that the DA will be looking at the final decision of the declaration on which areas will be affected by the rice emergency ruling.

“Ang pangunahing una na titignan, iyong mga key cities at metropolitan areas natin,” he said.

Under the rice emergency declaration, rice stocks of the National Food Authority (NFA) will be sold to government agencies and local government units at ₱36 per kilogram and consumers at ₱38 per kilogram.

Laurel previously assured the public that the NFA has 300,000 tons of stock that they will be releasing with the guarantee that the stocks are not aging and is of high quality, well-maintained and visually appealing.