Arroyo on rice imports: Take it or leave it
By Christine Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:29:00 05/03/2008
Filed Under: rice problem, Food, Agriculture
MANILA, Philipppines--For now, the government can take or leave new rice imports, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Friday.
Apparently responding to criticisms and concerns on the rice situation, the President said the Philippines would be able to "weather this storm than at any time in recent history."
She said the Food and Agriculture Organization had declared that the Philippines was not among the 36 countries it identified to be in a rice crisis.
"I've seen this coming for some time now, certainly before the world took notice. That is why we were reaching out to Thailand and Vietnam for rice supply long before the headlines," Ms Arroyo told a gathering of businessmen who launched a campaign against smuggling at the InterContinental Hotel in Makati City.
"So don't be alarmed by today's headlines," she said, adding that her administration was able to forge contracts with Thailand, Vietnam and "other neighbors elsewhere" to provide the Philippines 1.2 million metric tons of rice.
Buffer stocks
This importation, she said, was "enough to cover the 10-percent differential that is our production and our consumption."
"If we're to go into the market, again, it's for buffer stocks," the President said.
"That's why it's a take-it-or-leave-it situation as far as the NFA (National Food Authority) is concerned. In other words, we can take it or we can leave it, depending on how the prices are."
The other day, ousted President Joseph Estrada blamed the Arroyo administration for the current rice situation, saying it did not have the foresight to anticipate the rice crisis.
As though in response, Ms Arroyo reiterated the government's action plan to make rice available and affordable amid the tight supply of rice worldwide.
"We are managing the issue the best way possible through our program to contain prices and prevent a crisis," she said.
The action plan involves ensuring the supply of rice, guaranteeing its distribution, especially to the poor through schools, church and the religious network, and ensuring enforcement of consumer protection "by a fierce effort to crack down on rice bandits, especially those who divert NFA rice and tag it as commercial rice so they can get a higher price for it," Ms Arroyo said.
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