Lawmakers hit conflicting rice supply figures

MANILA, Philippines - Two party-list lawmakers questioned what they said were conflicting figures of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and National Food Authority (NFA) in insisting there is no rice shortage.

In a statement, Magdalo party-list Reps. Gary Alejano and Ashley Acedillo said that the targets and policies on rice self-sufficiency are contained in the 2011-2016 Philippine Food Staples Self-sufficiency Roadmap (FSSR), which sets 2013 as the year within which the country should be rice self-sufficient.

But the lawmakers said there is already a disparity between this year’s rice production target of 20.4 million metric tons, and the 18.45 million MT that the country may realistically produce by the end of the year.

They also said that under the FSSR, the country should be producing 21.11 million MT in order for it to be truly rice self-sufficient this year, so the DA and NFA should explain why they have missed the targets set by the program.

Also among the strategies the FSSR recommends adopting to achieve rice self-sufficiency in 2013 is to allow the quantitative restriction on imported rice to expire in 2012 and to replace this with quantitative tariffs.

But the lawmakers said these have not been done as the NFA has designated itself as the country’s sole importer of rice.

They also backed calls for the House of Representatives to conduct a probe into the reported rice shortage in the country parallel to what the Senate is going to do.