House Minority Leader Rep. Danilo Suarez. PATHRICIA ROXAS / INQUIRER.net
National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Jason Aquino should resign amid the issue of dwindling supply of government-subsidized rice in the country, House Minority Leader Rep. Danilo Suarez said Tuesday.
The Quezon 3rd District representative made the call in a press briefing as he lamented how the public has suffered from the reported shortage of NFA rice, which he believed was not true.
“Voluntary, he should not wait anymore, tumaas na eh, tinatamaan na ang masa eh [it has escalated, the people had been hit],” Suarez said. “Ano pang hinihintay mo, diba? Halatang-halata namang kumikita ngayon yung mga importer tsaka yung mga nag-hold ng bigas.”
[What are you waiting for? It is obvious that the importers are profiting and those who hoard rice.]
“Wala tayong shortage [We don’t have any shortage]. They created this scenario na wala silang bigas… Kawawa yung consumers especially yung masa na umaasa sa murang bigas [Poor are those consumers who rely on affordable rice],” he added.
Last week, an NFA report bared that its buffer stock of the staple had dwindled to just 200,000 bags, good for less than a day’s supply for the entire country.
The report also showed that the NFA rice reserves were already down to zero, while NFA rice on the market was expected to last for less than a half day.
But Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, head of the NFA Council—NFA’s policymaking body—accused NFA of creating an “artificial” rice shortage.
Evasco said the report could prompt rice traders to hoard their supply in anticipation of higher prices.
READ: NFA creating fake rice shortage, says Cabinet secretary
Suarez said he, along with the House minority bloc, was alarmed by the fiasco, which may trigger some rice traders to take advantage of the situation.
“While the Malacañang assured that our country has enough supply, we are concerned that rice traders will take advantage of this situation, to the detriment of the Filipino consumers,” he said.
The lawmaker also lamented how an agricultural country like the Philippines had become dependent on imported rice.
“Now we are dependent on imported rice, which the agency is pushing to arrive next month. The situation would not have reached this point if only the Department of Agriculture gave utmost attention to food security,” he said. /jpv