MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is standing by his cabinet members on the issues surrounding the National Food Authority (NFA), which is under fire for supposedly causing panic that raised the prices of rice.
The NFA Council and NFA management have been trading barbs over the status of the rice supply in the country following reports that the grains agency’s buffer stock has been depleted.
Last Wednesday, NFA council chairman and Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco assailed the NFA management for allegedly creating an artificial rice shortage and called for an audit of the agency’s operations.
He said some NFA officials continued to talk about a supposed lack of supply even after Duterte announced that the NFA Council is the only agency authorized to speak about the issue.
Asked whether the rift is a cause for concern for Malacañang, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said: “I can only say that the President always stands by his Cabinet members. Even on the issue of Boracay, he followed the recommendation of his Cabinet members. So he will stand by the recommendation of his Cabinet members.”
Roque was referring to the interior, environment and tourism departments’ recommendation to close Boracay island for six months starting April 26.
Pressed if Duterte is standing by NFA administrator Jason Aquino, Roque replied: “He (Aquino) is not a member of the Cabinet.”
The presidential spokesman was mum on calls by senators to fire Aquino, who was accused of sowing confusion about the situation of rice supply in the country.
“He hasn’t said anything. But as is the policy of the President, he will stand by his Cabinet members,” Roque said.
Last Wednesday, Evasco said the NFA’s rice reserve is good only for 0.35 days or about 200,000 bags, way lower than the required 15-day buffer stock it is required to maintain at any given time. He, however, claimed that the country has enough supply of the staple because of the harvest of local farmers and the arrival of about 500,000 metric tons of rice imports last month.
NFA administrator Aquino insisted that the interagency NFA Council is defying orders from President Duterte himself on the immediate importation of 250,000 metric tons (MT) of rice to boost the country’s buffer stock.
Before the end of last month, Duterte ordered the immediate processing of the importation, for which the NFA Council decided to adopt the 2017 rice importation terms of reference (TOR) under an open tender or government-to-private scheme.
“Up to this time, the Cabinet Secretary (Evasco) has yet to approve the terms of reference for the importation that NFA management has submitted for approval,” Aquino said.
The grains agency had requested the NFA Council as early as October 2017 for the replenishment of the government buffer stock through importation to prevent the possibility of NFA rice shortage in the market.
“The council was forewarned of the depletion of stocks,” Aquino said.
Meanwhile, NFA management said “documents are ready for scrutiny” as the council called for an independent audit by the Commission on Audit of its operations.
The NFA Council is questioning why NFA released a lot of its rice stocks during the harvest season from October to December while distribution was low during the lean months of July to September.
“Part of NFA rice releases in October, November and December went to the relief agencies totaling 292,848 bags. Total rice issued for relief operations in 2017 was 784,429 bags,” Aquino explained.
He emphasized that government-contracted 250,000 MT of imported rice in 2017 started arriving in the country only in the last week of August. Thus distribution during the lean months was calibrated due to low inventory.
“With the arrival of fresh buffer stocks, NFA had to release older stocks to its network of accredited retailers nationwide to avoid deterioration. This is in line with the agency’s total quality management program,” Aquino said.
“There are more than 10 million marginalized Filipinos who are dependent on government subsidized rice. As part of our stabilization mandate, we have to continue distributing rice at any given time to be able to respond to the high demand for cheap rice as the price of commercial rice started to increase along with other commodities,” he added.
Philip Cezar Rumbaoa, NFA Batanes provincial manager, said that as of April 5, they still have 8,528 bags of rice that will last for the next 90 days.
He said 70 percent of Ivatan residents who depend on NFA rice should not fear any shortage.
According to the NFA’s study, only 30 percent of local residents eat commercial rice.
The cost of rice, which has increased dramatically, is attributed to the high cost of farming, which has prevented some farmers from engaging in their usual agricultural activities. – Louise Maureen Simeon, Jack Castaño III