Rep. Enverga assures public of NFA’s limited role on importation

IMPORTED RICE Workers unload sacks of rice from the Vietnam cargo ship at the port of Tabaco, Albay. The National Food Authority (NFA) imports 10,800 metric tons of rice from Vietnam due to shortage of supply from previous years.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / EDWIN BACASMAS

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon 1st District Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga has assured the public, and their colleagues in the Senate, that while they seek to reinstate certain powers of the National Food Authority, the agency will have a limited role in terms of importation.

Enverga on Monday said that the substitute bill seeking amendments to Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) makes rice importation by the NFA a last resort — or in case of emergencies and when local rice supply is unavailable.

“The NFA, as it was before, before they had the full monopoly in terms of rice imports, they had monopoly in terms of regulation that’s why I would like to ensure our counterparts in the Senate that this is a different scenario,” Enverga, who chairs the House of Representatives’ committee on agriculture and food, said.

“In fact, they would have a very limited presence here in case of emergency situations and importation is merely a last resort here,” he added.

Enverga said that they also want to brief the Senators about their proposed amendments to the RTL, saying that he understands where Senator Cynthia Villar is coming from.

Villar, principal author of the RTL, is one of the several senators who have warned against amending R.A. No. 11203 as the law specifically barred NFA from importing and selling rice due to rampant corruption in the agency.

But Enverga said there are safeguards placed in the bill, noting that NFA’s role with their proposed amendments would now be more on monitoring the rice industry to ensure cheaper rice prices.

“We want to brief the Senators as to where we’re coming from with this matter. Me, I understand where Senator Cynthia Villar is coming from, it’s true that there are many issues.  But again, we know that NFA has the technical know-how, the expertise, and maybe we have overlooked this, but it’s also important to instill monitoring, registration of all rice warehouses,” Enverga said.

“I think NFA is the rightful agency or administration that could handle this matter especially with the price stabilization function. So, importation is the worry they have mentioned, and as I’ve mentioned, importation would be the last resort so we put in stringent safeguard measures here,” he added.

Copies of Committee Report No. 1068 sent by sources showed that House Bill (HB) No. 10381 seeks to task NFA with the “authority to oversee and ensure compliance with all pertinent standards and regulations, leveraging its established expertise and nationwide network to uphold the national interest, in rice buffer stocking and food security” by placing a new Section 5 in R.A. No. 8178.

R.A. 8178 is the Agricultural Tariffication Act, which was amended by the RTL.

If HB No. 10381 is enacted, the Agriculture Secretary, upon the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) or Local Price Coordinating Council (LPCC), may declare a food security emergency due to the following reasons:

• shortage in the supply of rice
• sustained increase in the price of rice
• extraordinary increase in the price of rice

If a food security emergency is declared, the NFA will only be allowed to import when there is “no available local stocks”.

The House leadership, including no less than Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, believes that the following amendments can bring down rice prices by P10 to P15 per kilogram.

READ: Romualdez: Rice prices down P15 if rice tariff law amended by June 

“Highlights of the bill are authorizing NFA to require registration of all grain’s warehouses, allow NFA to inspect warehouses, to ensure compliance with standards of rice quality and supply,” Enverga said.

“It restores price stabilization and supply regulation functions of NFA, mandates NFA to maintain sufficient buffer stock requirements to be sourced from local and or farmer’s organizations and cooperatives,” he added.

Villar in previous statements countered proposals to allow the NFA to directly import and sell rice again, saying that the RTL was created for the purpose of ridding the agency of corruption.

“I’m worried about giving [the mandate] back to the NFA. I’ve not seen its sincerity. It has not proven itself to be taking care of the welfare of the rice farmers and the consumers,” she added.

Aside from Villar, several Senate members like Senator Sonny Angara urged the government to tread carefully, and study plans to reinstate NFA’s mandate.

READ: Scrutinize plan to re-allow NFA to buy and sell rice, senators say 

According to Senator Sonny Angara, the NFA was hounded by corruption when it still had the power to sell rice supposedly at a cheaper price.