INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
SAN JOSE CITY, Philippines—A leader of a group of rice millers in this city in Nueva Ecija province has appealed to the government to stop finger-pointing and acknowledge its fault in the rice supply mess.
“They are just looking for scapegoats, possibly rice traders or millers, but the government officials concerned are the ones to be blamed for the low supply of rice and its high cost in the market,” said Edgardo Alfonso, president of the San Jose City Rice Millers Association, on the heels of raids being conducted by teams from the National Food Authority (NFA) and the police in Metro Manila and Central Luzon.
“At best, [their action] is only pakitang-tao (just for show),” he said.
Alfonso said that as early as March when the farm gate prices of palay (unhusked rice) were raised to P20-P21 a kilogram for the fresh harvest and P24-P25 a kg for dried grains, he already warned that the prices of milled rice would go up to more than P42 a kg.
“The farmers and farm workers sold all their harvest because of the high buying price of palay. Now all of them will be looking for cheap milled rice, including the NFA rice,” he said.
“For the palay bought at P25 or P26 a kg, rice millers would sell this to their wholesale clients at P44-P45 a kg. It will cost much more to the consumer,” he said.
He said the government’s rice self-sufficiency target has not been achieved, citing Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala’s public statements.
Alfonso urged the government to continue its campaign against unscrupulous traders because, he said, their actions would negatively impact on others who have been following government regulations and who would rather earn honestly.
He said his group has not been involved in manipulating rice supply and price and would never be.
“We are more than 1,000 rice traders and rice millers. We do not meet nor do secret talks for the alleged manipulation of supply and price of rice,” he said. “We are busy meeting our rice supply quotas for our respective clients.”
In Bulacan province, an official in Bocaue town said the NFA should prevent rice millers from buying NFA rice to avoid the illegal remilling and repacking of cheap rice.
The source, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said while rice millers have been given permits only for milling, many have been able to buy and stock NFA rice.
“Millers would rebag the NFA rice if they find the grains to be of superior quality, like those coming from Thailand or Vietnam,” the source said.
Millers, the source said, would earn more because they could sell good quality rice they bought for P30-P32 a kg for P42 a kg.
The province has 151 rice mills and warehouses and 870 NFA-registered retailers, according to Serafin Manalili, NFA manager in Bulacan. With a report from Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon
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