|
THE
government will pull out rice selling at P18.25 per kilo
from public markets in Metro Manila in the next two to
three weeks but will continue the sale of P25-per-kilo
commercial-grade rice, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap
said Tuesday.
Yap said
in an interview after the Cabinet meeting at the
Department of Justice (DOJ) that with the withdrawal of
cheap National Food Authority (NFA) rice from public
markets, the government will embark on a pilot test of
“family access cards” in select food-poor communities in
Metro Manila to improve the NFA rice distribution and
deter domestic hoarding.
“Two to
three weeks from now, we will pull out the P18.25 [a
kilo rice] from the markets and we will bring it to the
poor and vulnerable families.
“What we
will leave in the markets is the P25 [a kilo]
commercial-grade high-quality rice because both rich and
poor can buy in the market. So we will now target the
distribution of our rice,”
Yap said.
Yap also
said the President ordered concerned local government
units (LGUs) to coordinate with the Department of Social
Welfare and Development and faith-based groups in
completing a “poverty mapping” of their areas to
pinpoint target communities for NFA rice distribution.
Yap said
LGUs will implement their respective but “similar”
versions of the family access card, which is expected to
significantly cut long queues in NFA-distribution sites
and make people less anxious to buy more than the amount
of rice they usually need.
Yap said
domestic rice stocks have increased by “close to 15
percent” this year compared to last year.
He said
the government will “study” the possible expansion of
the access card scheme in the other “critical urban
distribution centers” in the country, which total 12
areas, including those in Metro Manila.
In her
opening statement at the Cabinet meeting, the President
said the country’s rice supply is “secure for the
foreseeable future,” with total contracted quantity of
NFA rice from the December 2007 to March 2008 bidding at
1.2 million metric tons. Half of this has arrived in the
country.
To
ensure stable rice supply, Mrs. Arroyo said she will
personally lead efforts to crack down on those engaged
in price gouging and corruption, in relation to rice and
food supply.
The
President also said the government will maintain the NFA
buying price of palay at P17 through May.
Yap also
said the government is not yet considering proposals to
increase the price of NFA rice, as it is “not a priority
now” and “would be discussed at some future time.”
“The
most important thing right now is strengthen the
distribution among the needy. We are keeping the P18.25
rice right now,” he said.
If the
government maintains the NFA rice price at P18.25 per
kilo, the estimated government subsidy would amount to
P20 billion until December, for 2 billion kilos of rice.
At the
Cabinet meeting, Ric Pinca, executive director of the
Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. (Pafmil),
presented to the President and the Cabinet Pafmil’s
“Tinapay ng Bayan,” cheaper loaf bread and pan de sal.
These will only be sold in the Bagsakan ng Bayan stores
and Tindahan Natin. Pinca said the bread products are
partly subsidized by Pafmil members, are produced more
efficiently to reduce costs, and intended to “help the
poor get lower priced food.”
He said
the Tinapay ng Bayan loaf bread sells at P35 to P37 but
has a P44 to P54 market value, and pan de sal at P12 a
bag has a market value of P20.
Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda is asking the government
to carry out a full-scale national food-production
campaign with the help of the local government units in
anticipation of a global food shortage.
At the
same time, Sen. Mar Roxas II filed Senate Bill 2161
requiring transparency in all government transactions
involving food and basic commodities, especially rice
and corn.
Roxas
argued that part of the people’s basic right of access
to adequate and affordable food includes “giving full
access to information on the same, including supply,
production and imports, prices and other factors and
risks.”
“It is
the government’s responsibility to ensure that there is
food for all. In relation to this, it must let the
people know at all times about the state of food in the
country,” Roxas said, adding that “the best deterrence
to collusion, profiteering and other abuses by
government or private persons is transparency.”
At the
same time, citing the country’s shrinking agricultural
base, Speaker Prospero Nograles called for the
suspension of conversion of agricultural lands even as
he raised the possibility of coming out with a
legislation which would give the government the
authority to take over idle but privately owned
agricultural lands and use them for food production.
Nograles
asked the Departments of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform
and Environment and Natural Resources to conduct a full
audit of all agricultural lands which can be made
available for food production.
Meanwhile, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, also United
Opposition president, on Tuesday reiterated his call for
the Arroyo administration to declare a state of calamity
in order to allow LGUs to use their respective calamity
funds to purchase and distribute rice to their poor
constituents.
Binay,
however, shot down proposals to grant Mrs. Arroyo
emergency powers to deal with the rice crisis, saying
such powers would be abused. (With V. Parce, C. Parpan) |
