‘ Reengineer, don’t abolish NFA’

SEN. Francis Pangilinan said on Saturday the National Food Authority ( NFA) must be “re- engineered” and not be abolished.

The senator made the statement amid calls to abolish NFA due to its alleged failure to perform its mandate to ensure enough supply of affordable rice in the market.

“The repositioning of NFA as a government agency focused on buffer stocking, rather than its outright abolition, is a more prudent alternative,” Pangilinan said.

“Rice stocks needed for relief operations during times of calamities or natural disasters cannot be expected to be provided by the private sector,” he said.

This is where a reengineered NFA steps in, the opposition senator said. Pangilinan chaired the Senate Committee on Agriculture in 2016 but its chairmanship was given to Sen. Cynthia Villar when the Senate had a major revamp.

“If government officials can stomach weevil-infested rice, the people we all serve cannot. Weevil-infested even if rising prices of NFA rice?” he asked.

“Raise the standards for rice we feed our children. Raise the standards for governance,” Pangilinan said.

On the other hand, he said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent attack on Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo was “another attempt to divert the public’s attention from the tons of missing smuggled shabu and missing NFA rice from the market.”

The President recently said that the country was better off left to a dictator than to Robredo.

“The price of rice continues to soar amid smuggling, formalin-tainted fish importations, and bukbok- infested ( weevil- infested) rice. Filipinos are losing their patience for these kinds of government blunders,” Pangilinan said.