|
THE
government needs to spend an additional P18 billion to
import an estimated 1.4 million metric tons of rice to
stabilize its price, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves
said on Thursday.
But the
issue has to be fleshed out first because there is
disagreement on whether the cost should be borne by the
national government itself or by the broader public
sector.
According to Teves, reflecting the importation in the
books of the national government could throw the
anticipated budget balance for the year back to deficit
status.
Teves
said there is debate on whether or not direct subsidy by
NG was preferable to doing the same via the credit
approach in which the cost would be borne by the
consolidated public sector, particularly the National
Food Authority. Importing the remaining 1.4 million
metric tons of rice at the elevated price of around
$1,000 per ton would force the NFA to incur estimated
deficit of P43.1 billion, Teves said.
The NFA
earlier imported rice at an average of $700 per metric
ton.
Teves
previously directed the state-owned Land Bank of the
Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines
to extend to the rice-importing sector around P20
billion more in loans this year as part of a broad
initiative to stabilize the price of the staple whose
supply situation is uncertain in the minds of many
Filipinos.
Allowing
the NFA to take the hit would bloat the anticipated
shortfall in the consolidated public sector this year.
But in
the process, NG will be in a position to achieve its
balanced budget program for the year, Teves said.
He also
said sourcing the P18 billion additional import
requirement has not been determined at this point.
The
government will continue to provide subsidies to the
poor as long as fiscally possible, but Malacañang
officials admitted Thursday government resources for
that end are not limitless—remarks seen to bolster fears
that overreliance on rice imports would increasingly
burden the public coffers as global prices shoot up and
the cost of subsidizing locally rises.
Press
Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a news briefing the
government continues to bat for a balanced budget this
year, a goal that will also depend on the length and
gravity of the
US
economic slowdown and other factors such as high rice
and oil prices.
When
asked up to what extent the government can afford to
give subsidies to the poor, Bunye said: “That’s hard to
answer. But what we can say is, to the extent that we
can bear the additional burden, we will do so for the
benefit of the poor, but our resources are not
unlimited.”
He said
the Philippines has a stronger fiscal position than
other countries in the region in terms of rice and fuel
importation, as the peso has improved from a low of P56
to $1 three years ago to almost P42 to $1 to date.
“That’s
a P14 difference. That’s because of economic reforms
that were put in place. That’s the reason why, compared
with our neighbors, we still have relatively the
cheapest rice imports and fuel imports because of the
strong peso,” Bunye said.
On
whether a balanced budget is still achievable given the
current scenario, Bunye said, “As of two or three weeks
ago we said that a balanced budget is still the target,
but we will have to review the new developments.”
The
opposition, however, asserted Thursday the
administration had only itself to blame for the current
rice crisis. An official of the United Opposition (UNO)
on said government officials’ conspiracy with big-time
smugglers is fueling the rice crisis.
San Juan
City mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito made this remark
following the disclosure that the government is losing
P65 billion annually from smuggling, as revealed by the
head of the Presidential Antismuggling Task Force Group
(PASG) in testimony before the House of Representatives.
“The
biggest problem caused by rampant smuggling is that it
killed the agricultural sector which is why we are
experiencing the rice crisis,” Ejercito said.
PASG
chief Antonio Villar confirmed the five most smuggled
items in the country are oil, resins, iron, cars, and
general merchandising. “As per record, our losses [from]
smuggling is P65 billion.”
Earlier
Ejercito said the cause of rice shortage is the
misgovernance of the Arroyo regime.
“This
could have been avoided had they given priority to
agriculture. During President Estrada’s time, the
agriculture sector was the top priority since he wanted
the people to have cheap food on their tables. The
problem with GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) is that she
doesn’t know how it is to be hungry. She has lived a
life of royalty which is why she is not sensitive to the
needs of the people,” Ejercito said.
In
Lucena City, Sen. Mar Roxas asserted that rice
self-sufficiency was the key in dealing with the rice
crisis that has hit the country and has brought up
prices by as much as P8 in the past two months.
The key
lay in irrigation, in support for farmers so they can
buy cheaper fertilizers, among others, he said.
The
senator participated in a dialogue with marketgoers at
the Lucena City Public Market in the morning, after
which he attended a town hall meeting in the Provincial
Capitol upon the invitation of Quezon Gov. Raffy Nantes.
Also present were Quezon Vice-Governor Kelly Portes,
Quezon 2nd Dist. Rep. Procy Alcala, as well as various
mayors, vice-mayors, councilors and barangay captains,
and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) for the
environment, social services, rural development, health,
and women and children protection.
After
the consultation, the local leaders led by Gov. Nantes,
signed and presented provincial resolutions to the
senator declaring their full support for his bills
calling for the suspension of the value-added tax (VAT)
on oil products and a tax exemption for minimum wagers,
as well as the immediate passage of the proposed Quality
Affordable Medicines Act. |
