12.9-B rice subsidy set for soldiers, cops

The national government intends to give a 12.9-billion rice subsidy to soldiers, police officers, and other uniformed personnel, Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel revealed on Sunday.

“The subsidy is already factored in, in the proposed 13.757-trillion General Appropriations Act 2019,” bared Pimentel, a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“It covers financial assistance equivalent to 20 kilos of rice per

charged to Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE),” said Pimentel even as he noted that the price of the country’s main staple food has been on the rise for eight straight months now.

He said uniformed personnel of the following services would be entitled to the subsidy: Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Philippine Coast Guard, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

Rice prices have steadily increased over the last eight months, according to the latest update of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA said the average retail price of well-milled rice stood at 145.71 per kilo in August, up by nine percent compared to a year ago while that of regular-milled rice was 142.26 per kilo, up by 11 percent.

Meanwhile, pro-farmer solon BUTIL Party-list Rep. Cecil Chavez has criticized the National Food Authority (NFA) for diverting its 15.1-billion rice price stabilization and buffer stocking program fund for debt payment, saying it has led to a "national catastrophe” as far as the country’s rice supply is concerned.

“That great blunder done via the fund diversion led to rice shortage and the long rice queues and the perception that the government has done a terrible job with the rice supply stabilization work,” said Chavez, a Minority member.

She said officials of the NFA, NFA Council and the Department of Agriculture should be held accountable as the lack of cheap NFA rice in the market has caused commercial rice prices to shoot up.

“The lack of field work, the absence of data and empirics, the often-flawed decision-making process is rooted on the clueless bureaucrats that dominate the NFA Council,” Chavez further said.

She added that the NFA should be overhauled and reformed, while the NFA Council — the policy-making body of the agency — should be revamped.

“Sadly, the inputs from the paddy level are not taken in during the decision-making process because farmers and people grounded on demand and supply of rice have been excluded from the (NFA) Council,” said Chavez.

The NFA Council is the policymaking body of the NFA.