Sen. Bam: Sack and replace NFA Admin, first step to solve rice crisis

While Bawas Presyo Bill can help reduce price of rice, Sen. Bam Aquino insisted that the root cause of the rice crisis is gross mismanagement of the National Food Authority (NFA).

"Makakatulong ang Bawas Presyo Bill sa pagpapababa ng presyo ng bilihin, pati ang bigas ngunit ang puno't dulo ng krisis sa bigas ay ang kapalpakan ng NFA. Dapat nang palitan ng Pangulo ang namumuno sa kapalpakan na si NFA administrator," said Sen. Bam, who recently filed Senate Resolution 868 with Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan to investigate the rice crisis in Zamboanga City.

"Kung hindi tatanggalin sa puwesto si Jason Aquino, sana tamaan siya ng hiya at magbitiw na lang para umayos na ang takbo ng NFA at mabawasan ang nagugutom na pamilya sa bansa," emphasized Sen. Bam, adding that the rice crisis will not be solved if the NFA administrator remains in his post.

Sen. Bam slammed the NFA's failure to provide poor Filipinos with enough supply of affordable rice despite the importation of around 500,000 metric tons of rice.

"Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin maramdaman ang epekto ng ibinibida ng NFA na magkakaroon ng sapat na supply ng murang bigas sa merkado," said Sen. Bam.

Also, Sen. Bam said the NFA has yet to fulfil its promise that importation will lower the price of commercial rice in the market, stressing that the price of rice has increased for the eighth straight month, per a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

"Kung hindi nila magawa ang kanilang tungkulin, wala silang karapatang manatili pa sa puwesto ng kahit isang segundo," said Sen. Bam, who recently filed Senate Bill No. 1798 or the Bawas Presyo Bill as means to lower the prices of goods in the market.

Sen. Bam's measure seeks to suspend the excise tax on fuel under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law when the average inflation rate surpasses the annual inflation target over a three-month period.