MANILA – Advocacy group Bantay Bigas has opposed President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to appoint a Chinese businessman as head of the National Food Authority (NFA) amid soaring prices of the staple food as agency failed to secure enough supply of state-subsidized rice.
The next NFA chief should be someone who really understands the rice crisis and can assert the agency’s mandate, Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estavillo said in an interview on GMA News’ “Balitanghali.”
Estavillo believes that many Filipino professionals qualify for the position.
“Bakit Chinese ang ilalagay mo dyan? Isang ahensya na magtitiyak sa kasigurohan natin sa pagkain … Napakalaki ng responsibilidad niya sa mamamayang Pilipino. Bakit Chinese?” she said.
“Kinukundena namin ulit ‘yan at dapat hindi maging Chinese ang mamumuno sa isang napaka-istratehikong ahensya ng gobyerno,” she added.
President Duterte told reporters on Tuesday, October 9, that he was looking for a Chinese with experience in the rice business to handle the task of ensuring affordable rice for Filipinos.
“I’m looking for a Chinese who’s been there in the business maybe 20 years,” the President said.
Not a long-term solution
Malacanang’s decision to remove limits on rice importation is not a sure-fire way to stabilize soaring prices of rice, Estavillo noted.
“Sa karanasan … natin ay ang dami-dami nating ini-import, ‘di rin naman nagresulta ng pagbaba ng presyo ng bigas sa merkado … Hindi bumaba ang presyo ng bigas dahil alam natin at alam din ng gobyerno na nandyan yung … nagmamanipulate, ‘yung mga rice traders at saka mga cartel,” Estavillo said.
The advocacy group fears that when imported rice floods the market, rice smugglers would take advantage of the situation. “Kapag bukas na bukas na ang ating palengke sa mga imported na bigas ay lalong lalakas ang mga smugglers dahil talagang isasabay nila ‘yung smuggled rice sa mga panahon na dumadating ang mga imported na bigas.”
Estavillo noted the government lacks teeth in punishing rice smugglers.
Filipino farmers will surely be affected by the forthcoming inflow of imported rice, she said. “Kapag dumating itong unli rice importation ay tiyak babagsak nang tuluyan ang [presyo ng] palay ng mga magsasaka.”
She noted that recent prices of palay in Capiz and Isabela were pegged at P16 and P18 per kilogram, respectively. (GMA News)
