Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said Tuesday there is no reason for the prices of local consumer goods to go up because of Typhoon Gener, which caused damage to agricultural lands in some provinces.
 
"I can assure you that we have enough supply of food so I see no reason for prices to go up," Alcala said at a press briefing on the eighth review and implementation support for the second phase of the Mindanao Rural Development Program in Quezon City.

Alcala also warned traders against unwarranted and unscrupulous increase in the price of basic commodities.
 
Initial reports from the DA Central Action Center show that total value of agricultural commodities lost because of the typhoon was P17.66 million.
 
About 8,391 hectares of cropland, mostly rice and corn areas in Cagayan, Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac, were affected.
 
Damage to rice crops was the largest, at P14.74 million from some 7,536 hectares of rice in the vegetative and seedling stages.
 
"The volume of palay lost from the 275 hectares in the reproductive/maturity stage is estimated at 105 metric tons (MT). Only 967 hectares were deemed completely damaged while 6,569 hectares have chances of recovery," said Agriculture Undersecretary Joel S. Rudinas in his report to Alcala.
 
Losses to corn were estimated at P2.92 million, or about 64 MT from 855 hectares of damaged farm lands in Cagayan. Most of the crops were also in the seedling and vegetative stages.

However, Department of Agriculture (DA) field agents monitoring markets report that the prices of rice, sugar, and fish remain steady.
 
Alcala expressed confidence that the Philippines will not be lacking in rice, noting that the early cropping scheme for the wet season will increase paddy rice output by around 720,000 MT this year. - BM/ELR, GMA News