The National Food Authority again roiled the market when one senior official conceded that the agency has run out of cheap rice supply. The irresponsible statement, while it may be true, should not have been aired publicly given the sensitivity of rice to price fluctuations and as a commodity consumed by almost every Filipino.
The NFA statement brought confusion and panic to the public. The statement aired on television naturally caused rice prices to spike and gave some unscrupulous traders an excuse to hoard the commodity for profits.
The NFA in reality still has ample stocks of rice contrary to the impression created by one NFA executive. Cheap rice may no longer be available, but the more expensive stocks are still in the warehouses of the NFA.
Managing the NFA or the country’s rice inventory, however, appears to be the problem. The agency, it seems, is not manned by competent executives who know how to react to the vagaries of rice as a traded commodity in the world market. Senior NFA executives, for one, should recognize the comfortable level of the country’s rice inventory. They should time the purchase and importation of rice, given the palay output data available from the Department of Agriculture. The NFA, in short, should be run by professionals who are well versed in rice production and marketing and inventory management.
Senator Grace Poe summed up the inefficiency of the NFA when she called for the resignation of NFA Administrator Jason Aquino. The current NFA officials, she noted, had been remiss in their duties and responsibilities after the agency miserably failed in managing the rice inventory.
It may also be timely for the government to ease the volume restrictions on rice importation. Cheap rice imports are readily available from the neighboring Asian nations if local production is not enough.
The Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, should take the lead in increasing rice production in the Philippines. Local farmers have often complained of the high cost of credit and fertilizer inputs in rice production. The department should offer credible measures to address the complaints. Thailand and Vietnam obviously found the answer that made them major rice exporters in the region.