Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, an administration legislator, sounded the apprehension.
He was quoted as saying that the country is experiencing "disaster in rice production" due to shrinking rice lands, which are being converted to housing and industrial use.
Other reasons he cited were climate change, absence of a clear-cut guideline on food production, and corruption.
Malacañang, on the other hand, has dismissed the persisting report about impending rice shortage in the country.
The Palace made its claim while some of the executive agencies, particularly the Department of Agriculture (DA), have been calling on the public to refrain from wasteful consumption.
Perhaps you've already heard Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap's "half-a-cup" strategy.
The secretary has asked fast-food restaurants to allow their customers to order half a cup of rice.
"Right now," he explained, "if you do a survey of all the fast-food joints, you will notice a fraction of them always have excess rice. People don't really finish their rice."
His recommendation already attracted criticisms from some senators and congressmen who said the problem is not wasteful consumption but inadequate production.
"We would like to exercise all efforts at ensuring the Philippines rice stocks continue to be maintained at a manageable level to ensure that the food security of the country will be maintained," Yap said recently.
But Yap maintains that the country is not facing a rice shortage, which is contrary to Zubiri's claim that "there's a crop failure" and that there is a pressing need to import rice from other countries.
The Philippines, which used to be one of the top producers of rice, has become one of the world's biggest importers of rice.
Even Yap said if Filipinos could be "more prudent" in rice consumption, the country would need only 1.17 million tons (which is still quite voluminous) this year, as against last year's import requirement of 1.87 million tons.
The administration senator wants to initiate an investigation into the matter. He wants to find out how many hectares of farmlands have been converted to industrial or residential use in the last 10 years.
Senate President Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr. said a strong political will to go after rice hoarders and cartels would be a good move on the part of the national government. He also cautioned the public against "over-reaction."
Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II said external factors should not be used as an excuse in the skyrocketing prices of rice.
Roxas said the Philippines plants its own rice and if there's insufficient supply, the DA, National Food Authority (NFA), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and other government agencies should do their respective jobs to arrest the problem.
He said calamity funds of local government units (LGUs) might be used to assist farmers in planting and harvesting rice to increase domestic supply.
Malacañang has also attributed the critical rice situation in the country to the ill effects of climate change.
