Yap: Family not in rice trade

MANILA, Philippines – Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap denied yesterday insinuations by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. that his father-in-law, prominent retailer Jimmy Gaw, is involved in rice trading.

Yap called an early morning press conference to issue a denial and castigate Pimentel for insinuating that he is guilty of conflict of interest because of Gaw’s alleged involvement in the rice business.

Yap said his father-in-law “was not involved in rice retailing and is not currently involved in rice retailing.” He also demanded an apology from Pimentel.

“He has never sought an import permit from the National Food Authority (NFA) and he has not been given any import license or import authority by the NFA,” Yap said.

“No member of my family is allowed to be involved in any government agency or any of the businesses related to it,” he stressed.

Pimentel, in response, said “there is nothing to apologize for.”

“Is asking an almighty secretary like Yap to please clarify if his father-in-law is in the cereal business already a crime in this country?” he asked.

“If Secretary Yap thinks he belongs to the royalty of this country, maybe. But this is no longer the Middle Ages. We are no longer living under medieval times, where ordinary people who tend to criticize those in power will wind up losing their heads. That is no longer happening. If Secretary Yap does not know that, I am sorry for him and for the people,” Pimentel said.

Yap said he has requested National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Nestor Mantaring just the same to conduct an audit of all NFA licenses issued from the time he assumed the top DA post “to give a clear picture on who has been given, what volume, what groups, persons or entities applied and were given licenses.”

Yap said he wants to know “what volumes were brought in, when, where were they stored, how were they disposed, to give us a clear picture of who is involved in the rice import business.”

He expressed sadness that “a senior statesman like Sen. Pimentel can make such an allegation without sufficient proof and basis.”

“If the NBI should find out that my father-in-law has, in fact, not been involved in the rice retailing business and has not received any import permit, he (Pimentel) should be gracious enough, as a senior statesman, a respected politician of our country, to offer his apologies to my father-in-law,” he said.

Yap explained that his father-in-law started as a simple textile trader on Soler before establishing the Uniwide Warehouse Club.

“It is not fair that a person who has worked all his life and has put up a business and provided employment to many, pays his taxes and contributes to the Philippine economy, should now have his reputation soiled and linked to me as having a conflict of interest,” Yap said.

He said the rice supply problem should not be tainted with politics because “the food issue is a concern of all Filipinos.”

He said he is willing to face Congress to answer questions about the DA’s role in food production.

He said the DA is also setting up an information desk that will help update the public on the measures being undertaken by the government to address the rice problem. Yap also announced the sacking of two NFA officials in Isabela for their alleged involvement in anomalies.

Yap also said the NFA would revoke all passbooks and instead engage in direct selling, especially in the lean months of August, September and October.

The NFA, Yap added, would no longer allow pick-up of rice stocks and would instead directly deliver them to some 400 accredited retailers in Metro Manila.

The DA chief said NFA rice would later come in “break packages” of one to three kilos each to prevent unscrupulous traders from repacking 50-kilogram bags and selling them as commercial rice.

Malacañang defended Yap yesterday from allegations of conflict of interest.

“We are one with Sec. Yap in his call for fairness. We too are saddened that such accusations are freely peddled in public without the benefit of actual proof,” Deputy Presidential Spokesman Lorelei Fajardo said. “It is not fair to simply throw questions or doubts into the wind and ask Sec. Yap to deny or prove otherwise.”

Calamity funds

Sen. Manuel A. Roxas II wants the calamity funds for local government units released immediately to aid farmers in the purchase of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds.

Roxas, in a statement, stressed the need for the government to adopt an open mind in seeking the help of all sectors in addressing the looming rice crisis.

Roxas reiterated his call for President Arroyo to convene the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to tackle the problem.

“An open house connotes an open mind, and this is precisely what was missing during the early part of the crisis. We have lost ground in addressing the problem because government was obviously still in a state of denial,” Roxas said.

Roxas also suggested that LGUs establish a food security early warning mechanism, particularly in the barangays, to ensure proper distribution of rice especially to children and the elderly.

He also urged the reactivation of the peace process to allow the unimpeded cultivation, planting, tending and harvesting of crops in conflict areas.

He also called for the creation of special investigative and prosecutorial teams to run after hoarders, profiteers, and corrupt officials and personnel of the NFA.

He said the dismissal of two NFA officials in Isabela is “just one small step for the DA but a giant leap for the entire administration because finally they are beginning to recognize what the rest of the country already knows – that there is a rice supply problem which may worsen unless we all work together to solve it.”

He urged the DA to file charges against the rice traders and hoarders caught repacking and reselling NFA rice for commercial distribution.

“At long last, Agriculture Secretary Yap has acknowledged that there is a rice supply problem and that NFA rice is being diverted to the commercial markets by unscrupulous traders,” Roxas said.

ADB to blame

An international organization advocating the prominence of food policy in governments said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is also to blame for the rice crisis because of its restrictive loan conditions.

The Asia Pacific Network on Food Sovereignty (APNFS) said the loan requirements set by the ADB and other financial support institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have forced less developed countries to re-orient domestic policies to the detriment of rice sufficiency.

“The ADB must be held accountable to the growing food insecurity in developing countries. Since its founding in 1967, the ADB had financed countless agricultural projects but weakened farmers and communities instead of strengthening them,” Arze Glipo, convener of APNFS, said.

APNFS’s 11 member-countries are Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

“The ADB supported the commodification of rice, application of market mechanisms and the price system in agriculture, and trade liberalization,” she said.  “The ADB is guilty of compromising food security.”

“Bangladesh and Philippines are on the same track. Bangladesh, like the Philippines, has a very high potential to produce (food) on its own.  But due to the loan conditionalities imposed by the ADB, Bangladesh is now a net food-importer,” she said.

Glipo said Bangladesh, which has a population of around 130 million, imports some two million metric tons of rice while the Philippines, which has a population of around 85 million, imports just as much.

She admitted that other factors explain the rice shortage, such as climate change and the growing global population.

“The ADB intended to change the rice policy of the Philippines. The ADB aimed to change domestic policies to make them in line with the free trade paradigm,” Glipo said.

“We don’t have food sovereignty, that’s why we don’t have food security. Our government does not have the political will to implement policies that would make us achieve rice sufficiency and food security,” Glipo said. – with Aurea Calica, Evelyn Macairan, Katherine Adraneda, Paolo Romero