THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has vowed to ease the bottlenecks in quarantine points to ensure the steady flow of food trade within Luzon to avert supply disruptions, the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday said.
In a statement, the DA said the DILG committed to the government’s the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) “to further enhance checkpoint protocols to ensure the unhampered movement of food and agri-fishery products, inputs, and personnel.”
Agriculture Secretary William D.
Dar said Interior Secretary Eduardo Año has agreed to ensure that checkpoint
protocols at the municipal down to barangay level would be adjusted to existing
national protocols on the transportation
of cargoes and food products during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Dar added that Año made the commitment following reports of “distress in chicken supply” that the DA received due to difficulties in transporting farm inputs, particularly at the level of local government units (LGUs).
“Secretary Año understands the importance of bringing our food supply immediately to our consumers who need these products the most. The IATF has been supportive of this, and the entire DILG is our partner in the ground,” he said.
“We cannot overemphasize our battle against the potential hunger this pandemic is posing us. As much as we want to prepare for the worst, we also need all the hands we can get to prevent this from happening. So again, we need to achieve a smooth movement in the food value chain,” Dar added.
The DA reiterated its appeal to local chief executives to align their protocols and measures with the approved national guidelines on the flow of food supply and cargo in the country during ECQ.
The DA has issued about 48,000 food passes nationwide to allow cargo and trucks carrying food-related goods to easily pass through checkpoints but some LGUs, particularly at the municipal and barangay levels, refuse to honor the IATF-endorsed document.
“The IATF-EID has reaffirmed the DA recommendation to adopt as a national policy the unhampered movement of cargoes and workers in permitted establishments such as agriculture and food products, and their supply chain. The DILG will issue a new set of guidelines on checkpoints at the LGU level for the said purpose,” it said.
Food industry groups, particularly farm producers, have been complaining that the deliveries of their raw materials and shipments of finished food products have been barred and held at certain checkpoints in Luzon due to stringent lockdown measures imposed by LGUs.
Industry groups like the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) have sounded the alarm that the country could face a food shortage in the second half—and during Christmas—if LGUs continue to hamper food production.
PCAFI President Danilo V. Fausto said the food value chain “should be left unhampered” during the implementation of the Luzon-wide EQC, which ends mid-April.
Fausto, owner of DVF Dairy Farm, said LGUs are giving it a hard time to ensure a smooth flow of food trade.
“LGUs should be forced, with the help of the police and the military, to let go of their excess food produced in their area in order to ensure their availability to other parts of the country,” he added.
Fausto explained that if the delivery and availability of farm production inputs like chicks, piglets, fertilizers, among others, are delayed, then the country may face a shortfall in food supply.
“Production inputs like chicks, piglets, fingerlings, seeds, feeds, fertilizer and irrigation should be made available and [their] delivery to the farmer producers assured this coming production and planting season,” he said.
Image credits: Bernard Testa