PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday his order to scrap the rice importation quota during the non-harvest season would allow the National Food Authority to ensure more than enough supply of the grain that could be sold even at a loss.
“I will unleash the power of plenty,” Duterte said.
“That’s the only way to [stop the artificial rice shortage]. This makes me mad because it has bogged every administration ever since.”
Duterte said the NFA’s rice inventory must always be full so the government could use it as a countermeasure against the rice traders attempting to create an artificial shortage to profit from it
“If you flood the market in one region and create an aberration in the distribution, I can order the NFA to sell at a loss in that region. I have a countermeasure, so I told the NFA to always ensure their inventory is full,” Duterte said.
“If the NFA oversupplies, that is not a problem. Let’s sell it to Filipinos. Even if we sell at a loss, that is okay since it is taxpayers’ money that was used to buy the rice.
Filipinos who paid us tax will also be the ones to eat NFA rice. If we lose, so what? We return the taxes that Filipinos paid with cheap rice. If they try to create shortages, I will unleash all of NFA’s inventory.”
Duterte said he ordered NFA administrator Jason Aquino to limit the importation of rice during the non-harvest season, adding the quota set in the past had been a source of corruption in the agency.
“If possible, we should buy all our local harvest so that during the harvest season, there is no importation. That is a government-imposed regulation,” Duterte said.
“And anybody who has the money can import. My job is to fill our warehouse and inventory. It should be filled until we reach an oversupply.”
Aquino ordered the agency’s special bids and awards committee to hasten the government-to-government procurement of 250,000 metric tons of rice to replenish government buffer stocks.
Duterte earlier ordered the NFA to immediately import the needed stocks as consumers continued to clamor for the P27- and P32-per-kilo NFA rice.
Aquino said the President wanted the government to have buffer stocks that were good for 60 days.
“As a long-time responsible and responsive leader, he knows the government should always be ready to effectively address any contingency,” Aquino said.