The rise and fault of rice shortage
OUTRIGHT, it is conceded by knowledgeable sectors in government and in the industry itself that insects and human pests are behind the country’s chronic grains problem.
They feast on the staple of the masses year in and year out.
The vulnerability of rice to pests, both the aphid type and the bureacratic kind, surfaced once again when the staple disappeared from stalls of retailers nationwide recently.
And the National Food Authority (NFA), the agency of government in charge of bringing the inexpensive rice varieties to the masses, has miserably failed to live up to its task. It took stinging arrows of criticisms from Palace officials themselves, businessmen, and independent observers.
A news story in the Manila Bulletin of August 28, Tuesday, was the latest hint for the abolition of NFA. The item, attributed to the Palace spokesman, said the NFA will be on its way out once private traders are given license to increase their importation.
Earlier, a senator initiated the agency’s abolition. And some congressmen demanded the resignation of the NFA administrator. But why not include the DA secretary?
What must have stirred the hornet’s nest, more than the staple’s disappearance from the market, was the shipment of rice from Thailand was infested with insects. Some of the grains emitted a foul smell. Its safety for human consumption is now doubted.
Media reports quoted agriculture experts who were one in saying the Thai rice shipment to Bicol provinces was old stock. They noted it must have been stored for a long time before shipment and the infestation did not occur while in transit which only took seven to eight days.
Experts said the entire shipment must be returned to Thailand, or from its country of origin.
In the recent past, NFA rice underwent a few “transformations.” Some retailers and even traders mixed it with local varieties and sold it to the public as genuine and real commercial rice.
And big-time importers and also traders hoard the staple by hiding it in big warehouses in nearby provinces to create artificial shortage. And when made available to consumers, its price had scaled threefold.
* * * ‘UST SINGERS’ CONTINUE TO REAP GLOBAL ACCLAIM. Currently touring the European-theatrical communities as part of its 34th international concert tour, the world-famed UST Singers continue to be showered with plaudits by critical audiences across the continent.
In concerts in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Spain, the choral group from the University of Santo Tomas has been featured in newspapers and magazines in that part of the globe with appreciative acclaimation.
The UST Singers, organized by Prof. Fidel Gener Calalang Jr. in 1992, represented the Philippines in 23 international choral competitions, garnering a total 82 top prizes.
Its most incomparable international achievement was winning twice the coveted Choir of the World-Luciano Pavarotti Grand Prize held in Wales, United Kingdom, in 1995 and in 2010.