Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said on Wednesday that the government has formed an inter-agency body that would investigate the purchase and distribution of rice by the National Food Authority, even as he assured that the country has enough supply of the staple, Piñol stressed that he was not accusing the NFA of irregularities but added that the supply chain could be abused by traders, some of whom mix government-subsidized rice with commercial rice.
According to DA Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan, it was actually Bangko Sentral Deputy Gov. Diwa Guinigundo, a member of the inter-agency NFA Council, who proposed to audit the “acquisition, down to the distribution” of the grain by the NFA.
“We are talking here of food and food is a national security issue,” Piñol said, adding that if it was to him, he would not allow traders and middle men to “control” the supply chain.
“Where does the problem lie? Bakit hindi maramdaman ng publiko ang saganang ani ng Pilipino [Why can’t the public feel the bountiful harvest of Filipinos]? The food supply chain, from the farm to the market, has always been controlled by traders and middle men,” he said.
Piñol said he “commends” the NFA Council’s decision to audit the NFA, the state-run grains authority that is also part of the council.
Pinol said that as of the moment, the Philippines is roughly 96-percent self-sufficient in rice.
The DA chief said that the government is rushing the importation of 250,000 metric tons of rice to replenish the NFA’s buffer, which had dwindled to two days’ worth.
But Piñol said that farmers produced 19.4 million metric tons of palay in 2017, enough to meet the estimated 11.2 million metric tons in demand.
“By mathematical computation, the supply of the production of palay is already above and beyond the national requirement. But we are not declaring rice sufficiency yet,” he told reporters in a hastily-called press conference.
Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday admitted that she was surprised that the country is experiencing a critically low supply of affordable rice despite the record-breaking surplus in the supply of the staple.
“It is downright bewildering to allegedly have a record-breaking surplus in rice supply on one hand and experience a low inventory of rice in the warehouses of NFA on the other hand and thereby needing to import rice,” said Poe in filing a resolution to launch an investigation on the long-standing claims that there exists a syndicate inside the NFA that manipulate rice data.
Poe filed Senate Resolution No. 623 directing the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food chaired by Senator Cynthia Villar to investigate the purported shortage of affordable rice that is driving up prices of commercial rice sold in the markets.
Poe, who earlier said there had been widespread speculations about alleged syndicate in the NFA for decades, filed the measure as she wanted the impending Senate inquiry to determine the veracity of “persistent allegations” of a mafia, syndicate or “rice cartel” in the government’s rice procurement and importation program.
She said this was necessary in order to put an end to their illegal and corrupt practices and ensure the availability of the staple food.
The Philippine Statistics Authority late last month said a total of 19.28 million metric tons of palay was produced in 2017, compared to 17.63 million metric tons in 2016, or a 9.36 percent increase.
The NFA had said that stocks of cheap rice are running low. The agency also stopped supplying rice to local retailers resulting in the unavailability of affordable rice in the market and jacking up prices of commercial rice.
Poe said that “we cannot turn a blind eye on alleged reports regarding the existence of a rice cartel in the Philippines.”
“The alleged existence of a rice cartel operating inside and outside the government is definitely an affront to the dignity of our Filipino rice farmers and the consuming public and must be obliterated to free our small farmers from a vicious debt trap and to drive away hunger out of the borders of the Philippines,” she added.
The inter-agency NFA Council on Monday approved the importation of 250,000 MT of rice mainly from Vietnam and Thailand, a move meant to replenish the dwindling buffer stock.
The NFA is mandated to maintain a 15-day buffer stock at any given time and 30 days at the onset of the lean months of July to September.