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SENATE
Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. prodded President
Arroyo on Wednesday to tap windfall revenue from the
value-added tax (VAT) on oil imports to be able to grant
additional subsidy to the National Food Authority (NFA)
to boost rice production, instead of allowing the NFA to
incur more borrowings.
In a
statement, Pimentel proposed that the additional NFA
rice-purchase subsidy be taken from the increased
collection of the 12-percent VAT on petroleum products
resulting from the successive hikes in the prices of the
imported fuel.
Pimentel
said the NFA has a current total debt of P35 billion but
plans to borrow P8 billion more this year to fund its
ballooning deficit, owing to its practice of selling
imported rice at a loss.
He
recalled that just last year, the NFA posted a
P2.6-billion deficit. In the first quarter of this year
alone, it suffered a P4-billion deficit, he added.
Meanwhile, President Arroyo Wednesday ordered the
Department of Agriculture (DA) to “flood”
typhoon-ravaged areas with cheap rice to ensure adequate
supply and to keep down commercial rice prices.
In a
teleconference with the National Disaster Coordinating
Council from Washington, D.C., the President issued the
directive to Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel
Paras while being apprised on rice supply-related issues
in areas struck by Typhoon Frank.
“I think
the more immediate need now is rice. How is the rice
distribution; how is the rice situation; what’s the
price; where you able to catch any hoarders?” Mrs.
Arroyo asked.
When
Paras reported that rice was selling at P38.50 a
kilogram (or P3.50 more than the average selling price
of P35/kg) in Iloilo, one of the hardest-hit places, the
President replied that a price of more than P3 over
average is “not tolerable and we have to do something
about it.”
“You
have to flood the market. . . .You flood the flooded
areas [with cheap rice],” the President instructed Paras.
Paras
told Mrs. Arroyo that National Food Authority
Administrator Jessup Navarro has been in Iloilo for the
last three days to ensure that NFA rice selling at
P18.25/kg and P25/kg is available there.
Paras
said the DA is providing good quality seeds to areas
that cannot recover from the typhoon damage for a “quick
turnaround, considering that we still have a window up
to September 15 for planting,” and the Land Bank of the
Philippines will extend a “special window” for the
farmers to avail themselves of loans for farming inputs
at special rates.
Hearing
the report, the President directed the DA to speed up
the implementation of the Internal Revenue Allotment
Monetization Program (IMP) (provided under Executive
Order 723 on May 12, as a means of releasing the
P12.6-billion IRA differential to local government
units.
Under EO
723, LGUs may get their respective shares either through
a seven-year installment basis from fiscal year 2009 to
2015, or through the IMP, which will give LGUs the
option to collect in advance from trustee banks their
respective shares from the IRA differential at a
discounted value, net of interest and other charges.
A
majority of provincial governors earlier agreed to spend
the funds on fertilizers, certified seeds and equipment
for postharvest facilities in time for the wet season
from June to September.
When
Paras explained that the IMP implementation is being
delayed by the reluctance of some provincial boards to
approve it, the President instructed the DA to start the
program with LGUs that had secured their boards’
approval.
According to Pimentel, the national government usually
ends up absorbing the losses and borrowings incurred by
the NFA, and ultimately these are shouldered by the
people in the form of higher taxes.
“The NFA
should be spared from incurring more borrowings. The
President should help fund NFA operations in these times
of emergency. If she can grant subsidies by the billions
to the small consumers of power and the transport
sector, why can’t she do the same for the NFA?” the
senator said.
At the
same time, Pimentel bewailed that the NFA is bent on
importing more rice, instead of scaling down the same as
the government steps up efforts to raise rice
production. Last week, he said, the NFA announced that
it had sealed a deal with Vietnam for the sale of
600,000 metric tons of rice at an average price of $940
per ton.
He
recalled that Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, the NFA
chairman, had confirmed the additional supply of
Vietnamese rice is a government-to-government
transaction, intended to augment the country’s buffer
stock in preparation for the July-September lean months.
But what
is disturbing about the new rice-importation deal,
Pimentel said, is the allegation of “overpricing,” as he
cited reports that the world prices of rice are
gradually going down, with the current market rates
placed at $750 to $795 per metric ton (MT).
“If
these figures are accurate, the NFA owe the public an
explanation why it agreed to purchase rice from Vietnam
at $940 per MT,” Pimentel said, adding that the NFA
should also explain the price difference of $145 to $197
between the agreed purchase price and the prevailing
price in the international grains market. |
