THE PHILIPPINE Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) at the Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing for policies that would require food establishments to offer half-cup of rice in their menus, noting rice wastages that could feed more than two million Filipinos.
The institute will push for the revival of an old bill that sought to penalize restaurants for refusing to serve half a cup of rice, DA-PhilRice Deputy Executive Director Karen Eloisa Barroga told a Palace briefing Thursday.
The bill was filed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. in 2013 when he was still a senator. “We will try to revive that and maybe have another senate bill for that half-cup rice,” Ms. Barroga said in Filipino.
More than 40 local government units have ordinances requiring food establishments to offer half-cup of rice, Hazel Antonio, DA-PhilRice’s development communications head, said at the same briefing.
Thˆese cities include Quezon City, Manila City, Davao City, Cebu, and Puerto Princesa, among others.
Under the 2013 Senate bill, restaurants, hotel inns, and other similar institutions will be slapped with a fine of P20,000 for their first offense, and P100,000 for the third and following offenses.
Ms. Barroga said each Filipino wastes two tablespoons or 10 grams of rice every day on average. “That would be costing P7 million for a year, which could feed 2.5 million Filipinos.”
Combined, the daily wastage is equivalent to 384,000 metric tons per year, Ms. Antonio said.
PhilRice has launched an awareness campaign that advocates for the consumption of healthy rice and the avoidance of rice wastage.
Ms. Barroga cited the need to create data that would guide businesses on how they can prevent rice wastage. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
