House food, agri panel chief vows to address food inflation
Stall of raw meat and vegetables in a wet market (file photo)
MANILA, Philippines — House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture and Food and Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga said on Sunday that he received instructions from House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez to address food inflation.
“Upon the instruction of our Speaker Martin G. Romualdez and in line with the desire of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. to make food products affordable, we will observe and address food inflation,” Enverga said in a statement.
Enverga said that the committee will conduct public hearings and inquiries and hold consultations with stakeholders to stop the unreasonable increase in prices of basic staples.
He also recalled the four-month inquiry conducted by the committee regarding the sudden surge of onion prices earlier this year.
The inquiry, Enverga said, resulted in the filing of charges against three Department of Agriculture officials and three officers of a cooperative involved in onion hoarding and price manipulation.
Enverga added that Romualdez commended the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice for the filing of the appropriate charges – violation of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and administrative cases for insufficiency and incompetence of officials’ duties under the Revised Administrative Code.
