NFA hit for using rice shortage to justify importations

MANILA, Philippines - A militant lawyer yesterday slammed the National Food Authority (NFA) for allegedly using the rice shortage as an excuse to justify its questionable importation of 100,000 metric tons of rice.

Lawyer Argee Guevarra, who earlier exposed the alleged P400-million overpricing in the rice importation contract of the government with Vietnam, said that NFA officials are “using the country’s rice shortage to justify another transaction that could benefit NFA executives, not our people.”

“After two congressional hearings and countless press releases announcing that we had ample rice supplies, the NFA is finally admitting that we don’t have enough rice stocks,” Guevarra told reporters.

“The sad part here is that stabilizing rice prices and rice supplies is not the real priority of NFA officials. Ultimately, they will use this predicament to pave the way for another government-to-government transaction, an additional racket for them,” he added.

The alleged overpricing of the NFA’s government-to-government transaction and the continued increases in rice prices prompted Sen. Loren Legarda and Magdalo Party-list Reps. Garly Alejano and Ashley Acedillo to file resolutions calling for separate inquiries in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Guevarra said reports that NFA Administrator Orlan Calayag had met with NFA managers to discuss the additional importation of rice to address the rice shortage were consistent with reports that the government’s economic team was pressuring Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala to import additional quantities of rice as data from the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) belied Alcala’s claims that the country would be able to produce enough palay to make the country rice self-sufficient by the end of 2013.

“Credible sources have told me that the recommendation is for us to import an additional half million metric tons of rice, but Alacala has stubbornly refused to do so. His pride is more important than the grumbling stomachs of our people,” Guevarra said.

According to the BAS, as of the second week of September, the retail prices of regular milled and well-milled rice of P36.10 and P39.30 per kilo, respectively, are almost P4 higher than in the same period in 2012.

Guevarra stressed that the lack of transparency in the dealings of the DA and NFA highlighted the importance of the media in exposing the problems at the agencies tasked to ensure the country’s food security.

“Can you imagine what would have happened if the media or the congressional hearings had not exposed the reality of our rice situation? We would have been kept in the dark until it was too late,” he said.

“Now, more than ever, our legislators and the Fourth Estate have to remain vigilant. With the questionable G2G transaction, PDAF scams, and now this new MOA scam exposed by Sen. Koko Pimentel, it’s clear we have to take a closer look at what’s going on in the DA,” he added.