PALAYAN CITY – The misuse by the National Food Authority (NFA) of its palay procurement fund is the culprit in the unabated increase of rice prices, a legislator said here Thursday afternoon.
“Kasi meron tayong ibinigay na budget sa NFA na dapat ibinili nila ng palay sa mga farmers tapos imi-mill nila at ipagbibili nang mura sa consumers, they failed to do that,” said Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture.
Villar was referring to the P5.1 billion government subsidy which was found by the Commission on Audit (COA) in its 2017 audit report to have been utilized by the NFA in paying loans instead of buying rice which was the real purpose of the fund.
“Tingnan niyo ang nangyari ngayon because they failed to do that, ang mahal mahal ngayon ng bigas,” she said in an interview after delivering a keynote speech in the 5th Regional Conference of the Association of Tourism Officers of Central Luzon at the Nueva Ecija Convention Center here.
Instead of the NFA taking control of the rice situation, Villar said, the industry has been placed under the pleasure of private traders.
“One is we did not produce enough and the other one is yung ating mga bigas ay nasa trader, they can just control it,” she said.
“Kasi dapat ang magko-control niyan e NFA e hindi namili ang NFA so walang buffer stock ang NFA. Sana kung namili ang NFA ay hindi mang-aabuso ang mga trader,” Villar added.
She also assailed several government agencies for failure to run after smugglers of agricultural products despite series of legislative inquiries.
“Ang problema, lagi na tayong nag-iimbestiga e kung hindi naman sila makikinig tapos yung mga agency naman na supposed to be nagre-regulate sa kanila katulad ng Bureau of Customs, Department of Justice, and yung Philippine Competition Commission e hindi gagalaw, maski kami mag-imbestiga nang mag-imbestiga e wala ring mangyayari diyan e hindi sila matatakot kasi hindi naman sila napo-prosecute,” she said when asked on her committee’s plans amid the soaring prices of rice in the market.
She meanwhile urged farmers to venture into mechanized farming and use of quality seeds to improve production as well as make farming more profitable.
In Nueva Ecija, at least 4,000 bags of rice, being part of the newly imported rice that were found to have been infected with weevils, have just been fumigated and can be available next week, according to NFA provincial manager Genoveva Villar.
She also expects allocation from other incoming importation as harvest time draws near.
