A vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations on Sunday backed the recent directive of Malacañang for the National Food Authority (NFA) to speed up the importation of 250,000 metric tons of rice.
Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. of the Second District of Camarines Sur said the Palace has recently directed the NFA Council (NFAC) to fast-track rice imports, along with a crackdown on erring employees possibly in cahoots with unscrupulous grains businessmen.
“The President’s order to speed up rice imports should give all the more reason to the NFAC to reverse its longstanding policy of allowing private traders to import rice in favor of giving back to the NFA 100-percent control over all overseas purchases of the staple,” Villafuerte said in a statement.
“While the NFA can do the job of importing rice better and faster, it must also watch out for some scalawags in its ranks who sell NFA rice to traders, as this will defeat the purpose of stabilizing prices in the market,” he added.
Villafuerte, citing Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, said President Duterte issued the order to the NFA to expedite rice imports during a recent NFAC meeting and told the Cabinet he did not want a repeat of the 2008 rice crisis.
Full control
Villafuerte also said the NFA should regain full control over rice imports, considering that certain unscrupulous grains traders have cashed in on the current system to corner the bulk of domestic supply and unduly jack up prices of this staple at the expense of ordinary Filipinos.
The lawmaker called on the NFAC to reverse its policy of letting private grains businessmen import rice through the NFA, following an earlier appeal by NFA Administrator Jason Aquino to farmers to sell part of their harvests to the food agency so it could replenish its stocks.
Amid the current “artificial” supply problem, Villafuerte said the council should also consider setting up a separate body to monitor the supply and prices of rice, with the end goal of imposing a price ceiling once retail prices spiral out of control—in the same way that the government exercise regulatory control over vital services like electricity for the protection of consumers.
“We need to fix the existing system to shield both farmers and consumers from the shady practices of private traders that have left the NFA helpless in carrying out its primary task of ensuring the stability of the price and supply of rice in the market,” Villafuerte added.
Under the current system, the NFA has the sole authority to import rice, but the NFAC allows private traders to similarly purchase stocks from abroad through the NFA.
He also said the rule of thumb is that palay bought from farmers should only have a 100-percent markup once milled and sold as rice in retail outlets.
“At the current average farm-gate buying price of P20 per kilogram of palay, regular-milled rice should be sold at around P40 per kg only,” he said. “But right now you can see that regular-milled and commercial rice sells for around P43 per kg to P50 per kg in retail outlets.”
Under its food-security and price-stabilization mandate, the NFA needs to have a strategic rice reserve equivalent to 15 days’ national consumption and a higher 30-day buffet stock during the traditional lean months of July to September.
P50-million fine
Meanwhile, Rep. Manuel Luis T. Lopez of the First District of Manila filed House Bill 7417, or the Rice Security and Stability Act of 2018, which seeks to impose a P50-million fine and an imprisonment of 12 years against those who will be found guilty of hoarding, profiteering and engaging in cartel operations and price manipulation of rice in the country.
Lopez said the passage of this measure seeks to identify the responsibility and accountability of businessmen who are found guilty of committing any of the “prohibited acts inimical to the interests of Filipinos, most especially the poor.”
The bill qualifies hoarding as the undue accumulation by a person or combination of persons or corporate entities of rice beyond his of their normal inventory levels and profiteering refers to the sale or offering for sale of rice at a price grossly in excess of its market value.
The measure also defined cartel as a combination of or agreement between two or more persons or corporate entities engaged in the production, manufacture, processing, storage and unreasonably increase or manipulate its price.
Price manipulation, finally, is any act committed by any person, persons, entity mor entities engaged in the production, manufacture, importation and other similar activities that seek to control and influence the price of rice at any given time.
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BIGAS PARA SA BAYAN:
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1. MAGTALAGA NG ECONOMIC TEAM PARA PAG-ARALAN ANG RICE ECONOMY UPANG 1)TIYAKIN NA SAPAT ANG BIGAS SA BANSA, 2) TIYAKIN NA KUMIKITA ANG MAGSASAKA DAHIL TAMA ANG PRESYO NG PALAY SA KANILA,AT SAPAT ANG AYUDA NG GOBEYRNO SA PRODUCTION, 3) MAY TAMANG FLOOR AT CEILING PRICE (MABABA AT MATAAS NA PRESYO NG BIGAS ), 4) TIYAKIN ANG SAPAT NA LAWAK NG SINASAKA PARA SA PALAY. (DAPAT BILHIN MULI NG GOBYERNO ANG MGA SAKA NA IBINIBENTA NG MAGSASAKANG AYAW NG MAGPALAY O MAGSAKA PAGKAT DI MAPIPIGIL ANG CONVERSION NG LUPA KUNG MATAAS NA ANG HALAGA NITO KESA KINIKITA NG LUPA. YUNG MGA SAKA UNDER SA AGRARIAN REFORM DAPAT IBUY BACK KESA INCONVERT LALO KUN MGA IRRIGATION CANAL NA ITO AT MAY MGA MARKETING FACILITY NA SA LUGAR. HALIMBAWA. PWEDE NGA TAYONG MAGDAGDAG NG SAKA SA MINDANAO, KUNG NAWAWALA NA ANG MGA SAKA SA LUZON, PERO DI NAMAN PWEDE LUMIPAT DUN ANG MGA BIG MILLERS/TRADERS. MALAKING GASTOS YUN AT SAYANG ANG MGA PASILIDAD KUNG DI NA MASUPLAYAN ANG KAILANGAN NILANG PALAY. 5) BUWAGIN ANG LUGING NFA NA DI NA NAKAKATUGON SA TAWAG NG PAGKATAYO NITO AT MALAKING LUGI, AT BIGAS LANG NAMAN ANG CONCERN NIYA DATI. MAGTAYO NG NATIONAL GRAINS AUTHORITY NA MANGANGASIWA NG GRAINS BAWAT MUNISIPYO. LAHAT NG MAY UTANG SA LANDBANK/DBP NA COOPS AT FARMERS GROUP AY BIBLIN ANG PALAY NG NFA AT IDEDEPOSITO SA MUNICIPAL NGA. ITO NA ANG MAGBABAYAD SA UTANG NILA SA LANDBANK. DITO NA DIN GIGILINGIN AT IBEBENTA, KAYA LESS TRANSPORT COST KAYA LOW PRICES AT TIYAK ANG SUPPLY PER LGU. APPLICABLE DIN ITO KAHIT MAG FEDERALISMO PA.
URGENT. KAWAWA ANG NFA ADMINISTRATOR. NASASABON DI NAMAN DAPAT. BUWAGIN NA ANG NFA AT LUMIKHA AGAD NG NGA.
Leonora D. Hilarion
Agriculture Graduate, Major in Economics
CLSU, Nueva Ecija
There is one and only one and obvious reason why traders are allowed to import rice–concerned government officials make money out of issuing permits.
The working capital that traders use to fund imported rice inventory can be provided by Landbank to NFA. Instead of performing its mission to help the agricultural sector,
Landbank is either lending the bulk of its funds to industrial and commercial entities such as those engaged in construction and real estate, or buying treasury bills, which is analogous to the biblical servant who buried to the ground the treasure entrusted to him by his master. If NFA officials have to be sacked, some Treasury people in Landbank who buy treasury bills should also be fired.