00:00The National Food Authority is ready to supply rice to the affected areas of Baguio-Christine.
00:07And in the face of a new calamity, the Department of Agriculture assured that the country's food won't be affected.
00:14Clayzel Pardilla is live in the center of the news. Clayzel?
00:20Yes, Joshua.
00:21The flood of Baguio-Christine flooded several farms in Bicol Region and other parts of the country.
00:28On the other hand, the Department of Agriculture assured that the rice supply is sufficient.
00:37It seems that this flood hit the town of Bulan, Sorsogon Province.
00:42That's how many farms were cut down and flooded by the flood of Baguio-Christine.
00:48According to the Department of Agriculture,
00:501,000,000 hectares of rice could be affected in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan, Central, Nimaropa, Calabarzon, Bicol, Caraga, and Eastern Visayas.
01:03But the agency believes that the impact of the flood won't be great.
01:08This is the statement of Asek Arnel De Mesa of the Department of Agriculture.
01:13The Secretary advised our regional field offices and regional directors to carry out the harvesting.
01:22But of course, we can't harvest all of it.
01:25There are areas that planted early.
01:29After the early harvest, they caught up with the second or third crop.
01:35About 15 percent.
01:38Of course, if it's damaged, it's hard to recover.
01:42But if we are advised, at least we saved a lot.
01:47The damage won't be that big.
01:51Up to 70 percent of the matured crops in the affected areas were saved after the early harvest of the DA.
01:59The agency assures that the rice supply is sufficient.
02:04Because of the importation, we expect that based on the historical trend,
02:12our stock inventory can still reach 100 days after the end of the year.
02:19So we are not worried when it comes to our stocks.
02:24The free rice, paddy, and other crops are now in place to be distributed to those affected by the flood.
02:33The Rice and National Food Authority will continue to provide the needs of the affected areas.
02:42500 sacks of rice are being deployed for relief operations in Sorsogon and Catanduanes.
02:48Currently, there are 4 million sacks of rice in the NFA's inventory.
02:55We are expecting more requests from the LGUs in Naga.
02:59As you know, there are a lot of affected areas.
03:02We are really confident that we can provide the stocks to the LGUs that are in need.
03:10Joshua was ordered by the NFA to open all the warehouses of the agency in the country.
03:15The NFA Administrator, Larry Lacson, is now visiting the warehouses
03:21to ensure that the rice can be quickly deployed to the affected areas of the country.
