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THE
government has already spent P8.6 billion during the
first half of the year, from January to June, to bring
cheap rice to the tables of poor Filipino consumers.
The
Department of Agriculture (DA) disclosed that, from
January to June 2008, the National Food Authority (NFA)
has already distributed 14.8 million bags of
state-subsidized rice.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the rice stocks
were distributed and sold through 3,197 Bigasan ni
Gloria sa Palengke, 8,080 Tindahan Natin outlets, 540
Bigasan sa Parokya and 199 rolling stores nationwide.
Government subsidy for cheap rice is expected to rise as
the DA said 28 million more bags of rice will be infused
into the domestic market from now until December to
stabilize prices.
The NFA
will be injecting some 6.5 million bags monthly, from
now until August.
This
volume will be reduced to 5 million bags by September,
when palay harvests for the wet or main crop will start
coming in.
Yap said the government is confident that it will have more rice
to distribute until the end of the year as 900,000
metric tons (MT) will arrive in the country before
September 30.
As for
the government’s campaign to prosecute profiteers, Yap
said the NFA has already referred 66 cases of rice
hoarding and profiteering to the Department of Justice
for prosecution.
Of this
number, 45 cases are now under preliminary investigation
and seven cases involving nine erring NFA officials are
pending with the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor.
Of
the nine NFA officials slapped with charges, one was
cleared and two were already dismissed from the service. |
