As Philippine rice stock depletes, Duterte places NFA under his office

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday "expressed his intent" to place the National Food Authority under the Office of the President following reports that Philippine supply of its staple grain is at a dangerously low level.

The decision came after Manny Piñol, the Philippine agriculture secretary, announced in a radio interview that Duterte had already given the verbal order to abolish the inter-agency National Food Authority Council.

"The president expressed his intent to place the National Food Authority (NFA) under the Office of the President," Harry Roque, a president's spokesman, said in a statement.

The presidential spokesman said that the Philippine leader was also considering centralizing the approval of rice importation under Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, an undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, subject to the review of the Office of the Executive Secretary.

Roque said that Duterte also pledged to give at least 700,000 sacks of rice to replenish the stocks of the NFA sold at P38 per kilo to be sold at P39.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino, a member of the Senate's minority caucus, meanwhile slammed the announced abolition of the NFA Council and aid that Duterte's decision just removed that safeguards against corruption and abuse in the NFA.

Without the NFA Council, the orchestrators of this rice crisis will continue to make questionable decisions with impunity, he said in a statement following Duterte's decision.

Aquino and Sen. Grace Poe of the Senate majority caucus, both called for the resignation of NFA Administrator Jason Aquino for his failure to ensure the right amount of stock of NFA rice which resulted in higher prices of commercial rice.

The government said that its rice buffer stock was good for less than a day, way below of the required 15-day supply for non-lean months.

According to Piñol, Duterte made the decision to abolish the NFA council in a meeting with rice traders at the presidential palace Thursday.

He said that Duterte would like to have only one focal person for each concern.

Duterte's decision to abolish the NFA Council is a big blow to Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., the head of the body.

Evasco and NFA's Aquino are at odds over the country's rice importation policy as the Cabinet secretary is in favor of letting private rice traders doing much of the purchase of rice from foreign markets.

NFA's Aquino, meanwhile, favors government-to-government procurement which he claims is faster but is sure to add to the agency's debt.

It is not clear yet if Duterte has already issued a repealing order as the NFA Council was created by a presidential decree.

Sen. Ralph Recto, meanwhile, urged the government to adopt a long-term strategy for its rice policy as the Philippine population is expected to balloon further in the coming years.

"Thus, whatever rice policy the government adopts, whatever agency it disbands or creates, whatever strategy it pursues, must take a long-term view, one that is cost-effective, pro-consumer and farmer-empowering," Recto said.

He stressed the need to have good policies on rice production and rice tarrification.

According to Recto, the country's population will grow by 16.43 million by 2028. He said that this number of Filipinos would need an increase of 1.772 million tons in the country's domestic rice stock.

"One study says the country should develop 1.496 million hectares of 'rrigable'farmland by 2028 to meet our food security requirements. Estimated cost is P524 billion," he said.