‘Cheap NFA rice missing in markets’

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Various groups reported yesterday that the “affordable” P39 per kilo rice boasted by the National Food Authority (NFA) could not be found in markets in Metro Manila and the provinces.

“We have scoured major markets and rice retailers in Metro Manila but we did not see the P39 per kilo of ‘cheap rice’ boasted by the NFA. It’s a big hoax. The rice crisis is worsening, and we can only blame the Duterte government for this,” Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) secretary-general Antonio Flores said.

In a separate statement, rice watchdog Bantay Bigas and National Federation of Peasant Women or Amihan also aired the same observation, noting that the NFA’s “relatively affordable rice, priced at P27 and P32 per kilogram, has vanished.”

Flores said the lack of rice supply in the hands of the government started last January.

“This is more than just a problem of supply. The rice industry is liberalized and deregulated, with the private sector dominating the industry. This leaves the government without any effective control and policy direction on the production, supply, marketing and pricing of rice that is considered as a socially sensitive product,” Flores said.

“Importing 250 million metric tons of rice is not even a palliative to the ‘cheap rice’ shortage. Importation will never be the solution when it is among the root problems of the perennial rice crisis,” he added.

Flores said rice prices continue to go sky-high and there is no affordable rice available in local markets.

“The rice supply is in the hands of private rice traders. Ageing rice stocks are left rotting in NFA warehouses and ports,” he said.

Flores lamented rice smuggling remains unabated.

“The rice cartel must be celebrating. They are profiting so much from the government’s incompetence and the people’s growing hunger,” he said.

He added the “unending political bickering and infighting” between Malacañang and NFA officials doesn’t help.

“Consumers will always be at a losing end in this situation. For a rice-producing and rice-eating country like ours, these worsening problems of the rice industry are unacceptable. Day in and day out, our local rice farmers do backbreaking work in the fields, yet the domestic rice industry is in this deep mess. Significant policy reforms should be undertaken with political will,” Flores added.

Zenaida Soriano, Amihan national chair, said Duterte should acknowledge this rice crisis and study it from the sphere of production to circulation or distribution.

“The government is essentially abandoning both the welfare of the producers or farmers and the marginalized sectors as consumers, such as the urban poor,” Soriano said.

“Imported rice will definitely bring about the displacement of farmers through bankruptcy and indebtedness, consequently diminishing self-sufficiency and food security,” she added.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos said there must be transparency and projection about amount for food security amidst the prevailing rice shortage.

“Sometimes we become paranoid because officials do not tell the truth about the rice situation,” Marcos said.

She said population is growing while farmlands are decreasing “so I am wondering why there is no projection (of rice need).”

Marcos said rice price is increasing, which makes farmers happy as farm gate price reaches P19 to P22 per kilo of palay.

Marcos said the last time she checked the market in her area, there was no NFA rice.

“So I was wondering why they say there is no shortage when in fact it is very clear there is no NFA rice,” she said.