Press Release
February 10, 2018

POE SEEKS SENATE PROBE ON 'RICE SHORTAGE'

Sen. Grace Poe today said the Senate should investigate the purported rice shortage even as the government has approved the importation of 250,000 metric tons of rice to provide more buffer stock and drive the rice prices to go down.

Poe called for a full-blown Senate inquiry in order to unmask the alleged syndicates in the National Food Authority (NFA).

"Kailangan nating tingnan sa mga merkado kung nagkakaroon ng kakulangan. [ng suplay ng NFA rice]... Mabuti ang ating Presidente ay pumayag na ng importation pero ito ang tanong, palagi na lang nangyayari ito. Bakit tayo umaabot sa nagkukulang tayo? Mayroon bang sindikato sa loob na nagpipigil ng tamang datos na ilabas kung mayroon bang sapat o di sapat [na suplay]? Poe told reporters at the sidelines of an adoption forum in Pasay on Saturday, Feb. 10.

Agriculture Sec. Emmanuel Piñol earlier said there is no rice shortage and the Philippines has record stocks and an oversupply of rice--in fact a surplus of 2.7-million-metric-ton surplus of locally produced rice.

For the first three months of 2018, he said the Department of Agriculture expected a harvest of about 3.1 million metric tons of the staple, which will bring local stocks to about 5.8-million metric tons.

The NFA, for its part, said the supply of affordable rice in the market was running critically low and the price of commercial rice was on an upward trend in local markets, paving the way for the President to approve the rice importation.

According to Poe, the DA should help local farmers by buying their produce and prioritizing the procurement of local rice, instead of simply importing rice, so that they will have increased incomes as a result of the government's drive to source rice stocks locally.

"Puwedeng hikayatin ng DA ang mga kooperatiba na magsama-sama at bilhin natin ang natitirang mga bigas sa ating mismong magsasaka. Huwag nating baratin, bilhin natin sa tamang presyo kasi kung yun lamang ay mapupunuan din kahit papaano at matutulungan pa ang ating mga magsasaka," Poe added.

Asked if it was proper for the government to import rice at a time when the harvest season kicks off next month, Poe said it was quite puzzling as reports of fast depleting rice stocks have been ongoing for many years.

"Sa tingin ko ilang dekada nang nagkakaroon ng haka-haka at ugong-ugong tungkol doon sa mga sindikato diyan sa NFA. Yung ating imbestigasyon noon sa rice smuggling, hindi pa yata nareresolba yung mga taong nabanggit doon at wala pa yatang napapakulong. Siguro dapat balikan natin iyon dahil kriminal na pigilin ang malayang pagbebenta sa tamang halaga. Iyan talaga ang basic need ng ating mga kababayan," said Poe, in reference to the Senate inquiry four years ago on alleged rice smuggling.

"Hindi ko alam kung minamaniobra ito ng iilan--na yung timing ay ganun. Siyempre hindi naman natin pwedeng kontrolin ang merkado pero dapat ang gobyerno mismo ang bumibili sa ating magsasaka ng bigas sa tamang halaga at ang gobyerno ang nagpoprotekta na huwag tayong mag-iimport kung mayroon naman tayong sapat, kaya lamang ang sinasabi nga ay hindi e mahirap din naman na magkaubusan so mag-import tayo ngayon pero imbestigahan natin bakit naging ganon ang sitwasyon," she added.

Currently, NFA rice sells for P27 to P32 per kilogram, while commercial rice costs P36 to P41 per kilo.

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