Piñol not bothered by charges over rice funds

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol is not worried by the warning of reelectionist Sen. Cynthia Villar of possible charges against him over rice funds.

Villar earlier warned officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and National Food Authority that she would file charges against those who failed to properly use the rice competitiveness enhancement fund (RCEF) amid a new rice regime.

“Why should it bother me? How could I be accused of misappropriating non-existent funds?” Piñol told The STAR yesterday.

“The P10-billion RCEF has yet to be released. We only have the P1 billion for credit and that is with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP),” he noted.

Industry sources said Villar’s statement came after the alleged black propaganda against her in connection with the rice tariffication law. Prior to the midterm elections, farmers called for a boycott of Villar.

Other sources claimed that Villar accused DA of waging a campaign against her.

Villar’s warning also stemmed from the issues between the DA and Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The DBM has argued that the P5 billion released last year formed part of the RCEF, but Piñol and the National Economic and Development Authority insisted otherwise.

The rice liberalization law created the annual P10-billion RCEF as a safeguard to protect the industry from sudden or extreme price fluctuations and provide farmers with assistance to make them competitive.