Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros has proposed the conduct of an investigation into what she described is the Marcos administration’s “uncoordinated and contradicting policies on rice regulation.”
In filing Senate Resolution No. 794 on Tuesday, Hontiveros said the investigation is necessary due to the apparent lack of “leadership, coordination, and cohesion” in the government’s policies on rice regulation “to the grave risk and detriment of the people.”
She noted that President Marcos’ Executive Order 39 which imposed a price ceiling on regular milled and well-milled rice effective September 5 to stabilize the prices of rice nationwide was “opposed” no less than by his economic managers, who said the price cap will cause “enormous losses to farmers and retailers, lead to greater economic strain on consumers, and promote the very ills it professes to remedy.”
“EO 39 may likely encourage rather than curb hoarding, profiteering, and the proliferation of cartels. A former Department of Agriculture undersecretary predicts that ‘we will soon see rice shortage, black markets, and rice queues,‘ making rice even less accessible and risking critical supply gaps which hurt the poorest of Filipinos most,” Hontiveros said in the resolution.
Hontiveros said the statement made by Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno that the administration’s economic team was not consulted on the mandatory price cap on rice is “not good” especially since the finance chief said this will “have adverse effects if allowed to linger for a longer period.”
“Contrary to EO 39’s purported goal of protecting farmers and the agriculture sector, Sec. Diokno also announced the DOF’s proposal to reduce rice import tariffs to zero percent which would be disastrous to local farmers especially given the upcoming harvest season,” she added.
“Such proposal would also contradict the administration’s past statements bolstering the need for government-to-government importation of rice,” she also said.
Hontiveros said the conflicting policies “are being thrown around” even as the National Food Authority failed to utilize its P7 billion subsidy to maintain sufficient rice buffer stock sourced from local farmers as mandated under RA 11203 or the Act Liberalizing the Importation, Exportation, and Trading of Rice, Lifting for the Purpose the Quantitative Import Restriction on Rice.
“There is an evident lack of leadership, coordination, and cohesion in the country’s policies on rice regulation to the grave risk and detriment of the people,” she said.
In Marikina, the city government, along with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) distributed the P15,000 rice subsidy to over 400 retailers affected by the price ceiling.
The Marikina public information office (PIO) said former Rep. Miro Quimbo also joined the distribution which was held at the civic center located in Barangay Concepcion Dos.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will file cases on Monday next week against individuals found to be involved in onion price manipulation and smuggling.
“Mayroon na tayong ipa-file pero sa Lunes na natin ihahain (We already have a case, but it will be filed on Monday) for price manipulation, profiteering and smuggling of onion,” he said.
“Magkasama dito ang DOJ (Department of Justice) at NBI pero NBI na ang maghahain (The DOJ and the NBI are in this together, but it will be the NBI which will file the cases),” he added.
Remulla, who earlier created the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Task Force along with a special team of prosecutors to investigate the smuggling and price manipulation of agricultural products sold in the local market, said they also made use of the information generated during the congressional hearings on the issue in their own investigation.
In July this year, Remulla said there could be as many as 20 individuals involved in the smuggling of onion and garlic in the country but only three or four could be considered as main players.
He likewise said the DOJ is looking at former and current government officials who might be working in cahoots with smugglers in operating a “sophisticated network” that controls everything from cornering the supply of onion and garlic in the local market to the operation of cold storage facilities and importation. — With Christian Oineza and Ashzel Hachero
