Amid skyrocketing vegetable prices, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has no plans to improve local production. The department itself announced that the country may experience a 79-day food shortage this year. The vegetable supply deficit is projected to reach 434,841 metric tons (MT), or equivalent to the consumption requirement of Filipinos for two and a half months.

Since last year, consumers have been complaining about high vegetable prices due to shortages. The prices of vegetables increased by an average of 60% since November. Prices of some vegetables more than doubled.

Instead of addressing the local supply deficit, the regime has chosen to prioritize boosting the production of export crops. It allocated ₱360 million to the Productivity Enhancement Project, a program which aims to improve the production of cash crops and agricultural produce such as bananas, bamboos, mangoes and onions. The highest allocation (₱220 million) will go to banana production. Only big producers who are registered with the Security and Exchange Commission can avail of this benefit and not small farmers. On the other hand, 900,000 distressed farmers will only receive a one-time ₱3,000-cash aid and ₱2,000-food aid for the entire year. This is equivalent to a measly ₱8/day subsidy.