By Bernama
Manila : The Philippine government said Saturday it will not declare a food emergency although the soaring rice price is hitting the country hard.
A spokesman of the Malacanang presidential palace said that the current “rice problem could not yet be regarded as a crisis,” China’s news agency Xinhua reported, quoting the official Philippines News Agency.
Deputy Presidential Spokesman Anthony Golez said that the government “is still in control of the situation.”
Some opposition politicians have proposed for a declaration of a state of calamity amid the rising prices and supply shortage of staple food.
Golez said the government could not just declare a state of calamity without an objective basis.
Philippine Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said that the government will exhaust all means first before declaring a “rice and corn emergency.”
He said the government has the power to go after traders engaged in hoarding and profiteering.