By MALU CADELINA MANAR
KIDAPAWAN CITY – Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Manny Piñol has denied reports that the country is suffering from rice shortage, saying that “stocks are enough for our consumption for the next 96 days.”
The DA secretary said some 5.8 million metric tons of rice have been made available in the market.
Based on data, the country’s daily consumption of rice is estimated at 2.8 million metric tons for the next three months.
He said, “So, even if you deduct these 2.8 million metric tons of rice, which is the sum consumption of Filipinos for the next 96 days, we still have 3 million metric tons available. With these data, anong rice shortage ang kanilang pinagsasabi?”
Piñol blamed rice cartels for starting the rice shortage issue to allegedly “maneuver” its price.
The country, as Piñol would describe it, is now suffering from an “anomalous food chain” where traders, instead of farmers, dictate the price of rice.
What is sad, though, he said, is that “the government has no control over it, and for that matter, the DA.”
With the “situation,” a trader, based on Piñol’s computation, will earn from P50 to P60 million per harvest season, “which should have been earned by the farmers.”
In Kidapawan City, the Grains Retailers Confederation (GRECON) in North Cotabato has complained of limited stocks of NFA rice.
Each accredited NFA rice retailer, according to GRECON Cotabato president Carmelito Bacus, is now only being given five sacks of NFA rice monthly.
This, Bacus hinted, is the reason why prices of commercial rice, especially those considered of the premium variety, have dramatically increased by P5 per kilo.
