HONTIVEROS BLAMES "TARA-FFICATION" FOR RICE CRISIS

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros blamed corruption inside the National Food Authority (NFA) under its former administrator Jason Aquino for the country's rice crisis.

In a privilege speech delivered on Monday, Hontiveros said that the rice crisis resulted from a conspiracy between unscrupulous private traders and insiders within the NFA. According to her sources, corruption is rampant in the entry of imported rice through the country's two main pathways: (1) through the Minimum Access Volume Program, which is a program of the NFA aligned with our commitments to the WTO, and is the private sector's program for importing rice, and (2) through the G2G (Government to Government)/ G2P (Government to Private) program which is the government's program for its importation of rice for the NFA buffer stock.

"In both these pathways, corruption is endemic. First, by gaming the price of rice through the manipulation of the buffer stock. Pinasadsad ang laman ng buffer stock para sumirit pataas ang presyo ng bigas galing sa private traders sa merkado. Pinatengga ang pasok ng G2G na bigas sa mga piyer para maka-position muna ang mga private traders at makabenta ng mahal. Secondly, by consolidating the hold of rice cartels over stocks of imported rice through the use of front cooperatives and farmers association, among other strategies," Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said that Aquino is at the center of the alleged massive corruption.

"Tara system"

Mr. President, paano kumikita ang administrator dito? Simple. Ang kalakarang tara per bag ay between 100-150 pesos. 100 kung kaibigan ka. 150 kung di kayo masyadong close. Gawin na nating 100 pesos. Each ton contains 20 bags of rice. We import around 1,000,000 tons of rice per year. This is the difference between the national consumption of rice and the domestic production. This means we import 20,000,000 bags of rice. Let us multiply 20,000,000 bags by 100 pesos. Twenty million bags multiplied by 100 pesos is a windfall of 2 billion pesos. Ito pa lang ang "entrance fee" ng mga importer para mabigyan ng certificate of eligibility at import permit. Hindi pa kasama ang iba ibang bayad pa para sa iba ibang modus operandi. Hindi pa kasama ang service fee na bigla-bigla nalang pinataw sa administrasyon ni Jason Aquino. In short, we are looking at a multi-billion peso enterprise. A multi-billion enterprise that has lined the pockets of a privileged few, and caused hunger to untold numbers of Filipinos," Hontiveros explained.

The opposition Senator then enumerated the NFA's "favored individuals." "Who are these privileged few? Binigay sa amin ito ng ilang insiders sa NFA at binangga po namin ang mga pangalan dito sa mga pangalan na nabanggit ni Senator Grace Poe noong hearing ng February 27 ng Committee on Agriculture: Marlon Barillo, Marigold De Castro, Richie Carpio, Mercedes Yacapin, Rocky Valdez, Judy Carol Dansal," Hontiveros said.

"Economic sabotage"

Hontiveros said that Aquino might be liable for "economic sabotage." "How much was paid to Aquino by private importers for allowing this modus operandi? We can only surmise. What criminal offense can be charged against him? Here, there is no surmising. Economic sabotage under Republic Act No. 10845," Hontiveros asserted.

The Senator also raised her concerns over news that Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Pinol cancelled Aquino's leave of absence.

"In short, si Jason Aquino na umani ng batikos dahil sa tuluyang pagsirit ng presyo ng bigas, umani ng batikos dahil sa pakikipagsabwatan sa mga rice hoarder at smuggler, at umani ng batikos dahil sa sunod sunod na kapalpakan, ay nasa pamunuan na naman ng NFA," Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros asserted that the government must file charges against Aquino and all the private traders and importers involved in the large-scale corruption.

Rice tarrification not "tara-ffication"

"Hindi na dapat ibalik sa NFA si Jason Aquino kung saan magkakaroon na naman siya ng pagkakataon at kapangyarihan na impluwensiyahan at makinabang sa pag-angkat ng bigas. We can talk about rice tarrification and other important policy measures. But without addressing rice tara-ffication, our policies remain inutile," Hontiveros concluded.