DA wants to expand functions of NFA

While President Rodrigo Duterte can't decide yet whether he will give the supervision over the National Food Authority (NFA) to the Department of Agriculture (DA) or just take it under his wing, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol thinks he has the better idea — expand the functions of state-run grains agency.

To be blunt about it, Piñol even said it has been "the biggest tragedy" to consider NFA as just a rice agency whose task is to bring in imported rice, a function marked with issues of corruption.

At some point, he even said the NFA should be overhauled in a way that it should likewise act as the National Agricultural Export Agency for farmers and fisherfolk who intend to penetrate foreign markets.

Right now, Duterte is planning to take over the supervision of NFA. He said this just a day after he considered giving the agency back to DA.

He is also now keen on designating Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat to oversee the approval of the country’s rice importation needs.

"Whatever fate awaits the NFA, whether it goes back to its mother agency, the Department of Agriculture, or it remains with the Office of the President, the truth is it is a vital agency which if operated properly could ensure food supply stability in the country," Piñol said.

He then said that NFA should be more than just a rice importing or a rice price stabilizing agency and should function just as it name suggests.

"In fact, it could even contribute to greater foreign earnings for farmers and the country as a whole if it performs the role of a National Export Agency which will promote and find markets for agricultural and fisheries products of the Philippines," Piñol said.

"As it is now, farmers and fisherfolk are left on their own to find foreign markets for their products like bananas, mango, sardines, pineapple, bangus, tilapia, processed food and other products. Only big corporations operating large farms in coordination with multi-national companies are able to find export markets for their produce," he added.

In other countries, there are export agencies tasked to promote their farmers and fishermen's products. In India, for instance, there is an agency that specifically handles buffalo meat export.

Right now, the NFA is the only government office in the Philippines accredited by the World Trade Organization a trading agency.

"Acting as the export agency of the Filipino farmers and fisherfolks and other high value crops producers could generate revenues for the NFA and make it financially viable," Piñol further said.

Then he also wants NFA to act as "consolidator" of all food products from every re-

gion so the government would know where to allocate certain commodities the most, as well as establish outlets where the public can have direct access to affordable food commodities.

To do this, the government must establish and operate Regional Food Terminals, which would consolidate all food commodities produced in excess in a region so they could be sent in areas where they are needed.

“An example of this would be the fruits of Mindanao being moved to Metro Manila and Luzon; the vegetables of the Cordillera shipped to the Visayas and Mindanao; fish from Zamboanga, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi brought to Metro Manila and the excess egg and chicken production of Luzon forwarded to the islands of the country,” Piñol said.

These are roles which the NFA could perform regardless of whether it is under the DA or the Office of the President.

“What is needed to allow the NFA to do these very important tasks would be to form a policymaking body, as in the National Food Authority Council, which understands that there is more to food security than just importing and selling rice,” Piñol said.

“Unless reforms are done, the NFA will forever wallow in deep debts because it is solely performing a function which causes billions of losses every year,” he added.

In a “spur of the moment,” Duterte decided he wants to have the NFA Council abolished for its inaction over rice importation.

NFA Council is an 18-member interagency committee composed of representatives from the National Economic Development Authority, Department of Finance, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and Landbank.

It was on Thursday when NFA Administrator Jason Aquino, who is known for being a close friend of Special Assistant to the President Bong Go, accused NFA Council for “defying President [Rodrigo] Duterte’s order for an immediate importation of the 250,000 MT [metric tons] buffer stock replenishment.”

His statement came just a few days after Mercedita Sombilla, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment Staff, said the NFA Council is yet to sign the Terms of Reference (TOR) that will allow NFA to proceed with the bidding process for the importation of rice.

All of this, as the two agencies disagree on mode of importation to be used. While NFA is pushing for government-togovernment bidding process for a faster transaction, NFA Council wants a government-toprivate or open tender scheme for a transparent, corrupt-free deal.