The AGRI Party-list has welcomed Agriculture Secretary and new National Food Authority Council (NFA) Chairperson Emmanuel Piñol’s approval of the importation of a total of 1.75 million metric tons (MT) of rice for 2018 and 2019.
The move, Piñol announced, was aimed at discouraging rice hoarders and taming rice prices, which remain high despite one million MT of rice having already entered the country this year.
“We are confident that the NFA’s objectives will be met. An influx of rice at those quantities will stabilize supplies and force unscrupulous rice traders to release their stocks, if they are hoarding them,” said AGRI Party-list Secretary General Benjie Martinez.
“The matter of high rice prices is an urgent issue that needs decisive measures and will not be addressed by paralysis by analysis.”
Martinez said that such decisiveness proves that President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order returning supervision of the NFA to the Department of Agriculture was the right move.
“The matter of high rice prices is an urgent issue that needs decisive measures and will not be addressed by paralysis by analysis,” he said.
Martinez, however, said that the importation should not be the only measure undertaken in efforts to stabilize prices of the food staple.
He said that supporting local agriculture should also be a top priority of the government.
“Ultimately, if we are to solve the rice crisis and prevent future occurrences, we must boost the productivity of our country’s agriculture sector,” Martinez said.
“Ultimately, if we are to solve the rice crisis and prevent future occurrences, we must boost the productivity of our country’s agriculture sector.”
“AGRI Party-list, as members of the legislative branch, have always been adamant in the belief that to fix the issues of food security and poverty alleviation we should provide support not only for our rice farmers but for agriculture and fisheries as a whole.”
