The Department of Agriculture (DA) is importing rice, after all.

This development runs counter to the announcement of the DA last week that there is enough rice inventory to supply the market with the staple.

As of September 30, National Food Authority (NFA) chief Jessup Navarro estimated the rice stocks held in NFA warehouses at 1.2 million metric tons (MMT), which is good for 25 days.

DA said commercial stocks were 372,000 metric tons (MT), which can last for 11 days, and households have 728,000 MT, a figure that is enough to supply the nation with the staple for 21.

All told, the country's inventory was 2.3 MMT, which is sufficient to last for 67 days.

The country's daily consumption is 37,000 MT.

Based on these figures, DA Undersecretary for Operations Jesus Emmanuel Paras told journalists attending the weekly Balitaan sa Rembrandt in Quezon City last Friday that the country will be importing rice for the rest of the year.

Herculano Co, president of the Philippine Confederation of Grains Associations (Philcongrains), also confirmed the market was awash with rice, adding: “NFA warehouses are full of rice and farmers are harvesting in Northern Luzon. There is enough supply at the moment but we don't know the impact of typhoon Pepeng hitting Isabela and other rice-growing provinces in Region 2.”

On Sunday, Malacanang announced that government will be importing rice to beef up supplies even as farmers all over the country are harvesting rice.

The harvest period runs from October to December.

Asked about the impact of the announcement by President Arroyo that there will be rice imports at a time when farmers are reporting increased yields, DA officials said it would lead to s situation of dampened palay prices.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap estimated the damage to rice and other crops at P5.5 billion but noted the impact on the projected last quarter bumper rice crop would not be significant to warrant importations.

For rice alone, the damage is P4.2 billion.