Aquino orders prosecution of commodity hoarders, profiteers

AQUINO AT FOCAP President Aquino fields questions from foreign media at a forum at a hotel in Manila on Wednesday. LYN RILLON FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—As public discontent over rising prices of goods grew, President Benigno Aquino III ordered law enforcers on Friday to prosecute dealers found hoarding commodities and profiting from high prices.

The President said agriculture officials suspected a conspiracy among dealers of garlic and rice to create a shortage in the market and keep prices high.

“Did the supply come short? Some are saying that there’s more than enough supply, but there seems to be a suspicion— I repeat, suspicion — that there’s a conspiracy to keep the prices high, especially that of garlic,” he told reporters in Iloilo City in an interview aired over state-run dzRB.

The President, who earlier met with Cabinet officials to look into the sudden spike in the prices of commodities, also spoke of the same conspiracy among dealers to create an artificial shortage of rice.

“Someone is taking advantage of the situation, and I repeat this is a suspicion. While there is sufficient supply, there’s none in the market. It seems that they noticed a low supply of the NFA, and they probably thought this is the right time to increase prices,” he said.

Aquino ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to coordinate with Philippine National Police in investigating the cartels, and “file the appropriate charges.”

“The NFA has undertaken operations to crack down on unauthorized rice dealers who are profiting from the high prices,” he said.

The average retail price of well-milled rice reached P42.19 a kilo early this month, up 19 percent from prices a year ago, according to the Department of Agriculture.

The farm gate price of palay (unmilled rice) was recorded at an average of P20.83 per kilo, or up 26 percent.

“Rice production went up by 4 percent, but rice consumption rose by 5 percent. So there’s a difference of 1 percent, and that’s big,” Aquino said in Iloilo.

The price of garlic shot up to P300 a kilo for the imported variety and P180 per kilo for the local variety, prompting the Department of Agriculture to deploy rolling stores to sell locally grown garlic.

The price increases have caused grumbling among consumers.

As an offshoot of the rice shortage in the market, the government is importing rice from Vietnam next month, the President said, “so that we can fill the artificial shortage, and make sure the hoarders lose money.’’

Francis Pangilinan, presidential assistant on food security and agricultural modernization, said an additional 200 metric tons of rice would be imported from Vietnam to replenish the stock of the National Food Authority.

The President also directed the Department of Science and Technology to use satellite imagery to plot areas in the country planted to palay, and incorporate data such as potential harvest, among others.

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