No rice shortage – Piñol
Blames cartels for ‘maneuvering’ prices
KIDAPAWAN CITY – Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol yesterday belied reports that the country is suffering from a rice shortage and blamed cartels for allegedly “maneuvering” prices in the market.
Contrary to reports, there is no shortfall in the rice supply in the country, Secretary Piñol said. “In fact, our stocks are enough for our consumption for the next 96 days.”
He cited data that the country produced 19.4 million metric tons of palay in 2017, believed to the biggest in history.
He said about 5.8 million metric tons of rice are avail-
able in the market for the next 96 days. At least 2.7 million metric tons of these come from the rice surplus in 2017 and the rest from the farmers’ harvest until March this year.
The country’s consumption of rice, Pinol said, is estimated at 31,450 metric tons a day or a total of 2.8 million metric tons for the next three months.
“If you would deduct these 2.8 million metric tons of rice consumption of the Filipinos for the next 96 days, we still have 3 million metric tons available stocks of rice in the market. With these data, ano bang rice shortage ang kanilang pinagsasabi?” he asked.
What the country is suffering from, he said, is an “anomalous food chain” where traders, instead of farmers, dictate prices of rice sold to them.
What is sad, he said, is that “the government has no control over it, and for that matter, the DA has no mandate to do so.”
With this situation, traders, based on Pinol’s computation, would earn 150 to 160 million per harvest season, “which should have been earned by the farmers themselves.”
In Kidapawan City, the Grains Retailers Confederation (Grecon) in North Cotabato has complained of limited stocks of NFA rice.
Each accredited NFA rice retailer, according to Grecon Cotabato President Carmelito Bacus, is only given five sacks of NFA rice monthly.
This was the reason prices of commercial rice, especially those considered premium, have dramatically increased by 15 per kilo, he said.
When NFA here decided to limit the release of stocks to rice retailers, those primarily affected were the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the indigenous communities in remote villages in Kidapawan City, said Bacus.