We were alarmed by recent news about our country’s depleting rice supply. A week ago, the National Food Authority conducted a nationwide inspection and revealed that our country’s rice stock was only good for less than a day’s requirement.
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., who is also the current NFA Council chairman, accused the NFA of creating an artificial rice shortage, causing an unsettling environment to the public. The NFA later on clarified that there is no rice shortage in the country, just a low supply of affordable rice, specifically NFA rice. To me, the creation of an artificial rice shortage is unacceptable. Whether or not there is real rice shortage, this issue should not be ignored because of its threat to national food security.
NFA rice covers 10 percent of the country’s total rice consumption, specifically serving classes D and E, or 8 million to 10 million Filipinos.
NFA Administrator Jason Aquino said in a statement on January that the insufficient rice supply was due to the NFA Council’s disapproval of the importation of 250,000 metric tons of rice from private traders. The National Food Security Committee submitted its recommendation to import rice as early as October last year, but was ignored by the NFA Council.
I fear that the shortage of affordable rice will be taken advantage of by the rice traders, to the detriment of the Filipino consumers, most especially the poorest of the poor. We are lucky that the President took the initiative to talk to primary rice traders, and gave the rice importation his go signal.
Due to the urgency of the need to import rice, the President even considered transferring the NFA Council directly under the Office of the President. Several sources also said that the President is considering abolishing the NFA Council. The NFA Council is a policy-making body responsible for the food and rice security of the country. In my opinion, the NFA Council should be under the Department of Agriculture. These offices need to work hand in hand in addressing food security concerns. They must be responsible for accurate forecasting of food consumption, research and development for the improvement of agricultural production, and implementation of measures for our country’s food and rice security. Hence, I call on DA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to step up and do what has to be done.
We have plenty of agricultural lands in our country. A lot of our farmers depend on these lands for a living. What is the government doing to maximize these lands and to ensure the livelihood of our Filipino farmers? It is sad that we had to resort to rice importation when we used to have thriving rice production.
The rice shortage issue is another wake-up call for the President to review the fitness of the members of his Executive family in holding their positions. I am looking forward to the President’s urgent action towards his Cabinet members who may be performing less than our expectations.