Speaker backs NFA Council abolition
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday backed President Duterte's directive to abolish the National Food Authority (NFA) Council to address the country's rice supply woes.
“Personally, I think we don’t need such as council. We already have an NFA Administrator. Now, if he would only do his job I don’t think we would have any problem (on rice supply),” Alvarez said in a radio interview.
He also expressed openness to reconstituting the council, noting that congressional probe may be needed to determine the necessary amendments to Presidential Decree 4, as amended by PD 1770, which created the Council.
“We might have to look into this matter because if the council was created by law we need to amend it,” Alvarez said.
On Friday, President Duterte directed the abolition of the 18-man Council amid disagreements over the rice importation policy between the council and the NFA.
Malacañang, however, later clarified that the Chief Executive merely wants to reconstitute the council.
Alvarez said he cannot help but be puzzled why the country still needs to import rice from neighboring countries whose agriculturists studied at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños.
“I don’t understand why we still need to import rice,” Alvarez said.
He said the vast tracts of agricultural lands in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao can be tapped to produce rice.
He called on the Department of Agriculture, the National Irrigation Administration and the NFA to look deeper into the recurring rice supply problem.