MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday said the country would have enough rice supply until the height of the El Niño phenomenon next year.

“The rice situation is manageable and stable. There is enough rice for the Philippines up to and after the El Niño next year,” the President said during his meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council and the Philippine Rice Stakeholders Movement in Malacañang.

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Agriculture Undersecretary Merceditas Sombillo said if the current level of production is maintained, the country would have a projected rice stock of at 1.96 million metric tons (MMT) by the end of the year, "enough to last for 52 days," according to a Palace release.

The Philippine Statistics Authority has a higher estimate at 2.12 MMT, which will last for 57 days, Sombillo noted.

Malacañang noted the palay harvest season would start in September and end in November.

Some stakeholders earlier warned rice prices could rise.

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Prices are increasing for imported rice from Vietnam, Thailand, and India, they noted.

The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), meanwhile, said rice harvest could go down due to lower rainfall levels.

The group earlier said the onset of El Niño would coincide with the second and third months of the wet season, when water is vital for palay growth.

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