Villar: End rice cartel now and avert looming rice crisis

Senate President Manny Villar today called on the Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority (NFA) to enforce a crackdown on erring traders and put an end to rice cartelization in the face of a predicted food crisis in the country.

"The poor sector stands to be affected severely by the food shortage following the diminishing importation of Filipinos' staple food, rice," Villar said.

"It is unfortunate that while agriculture is considered the lynchpin of the country's economy and hosts one of the world's most reputable rice research institutions, the Philippines is surprisingly the world's biggest importer of rice," he said.

Villar, who is also Nacionalista Party president, noted that threats to the steady supply of rice in the country can be attributed to water shortage, global warming and decreasing rice lands, aggravated by the operation of rice cartels.

"Hand in hand with government effort to boost rice production, an iron fist must also be used against the rice cartel in averting the looming rice shortage and drastic price increases of the commodity," he said.

Villar gathered from reports that the country is facing the risk of a rice shortage as soaring prices encourage exporters to stockpile the grain and made the prices surge to a 20-year high.

"I was informed that we asked Vietnam to supply us with our needed requirement of about 1.5 million tons but Vietnam said they can only supply half of that," he said.

Villar added he will file a resolution in the Senate urging the Committee on Agriculture and Food and the Blue Ribbon Committee to conduct an inquiry on the reported impending rice shortage and the reported rice cartel.

"These unscrupulous rice traders allegedly working in collusion with officials of the NFA should be dealt with accordingly under the law," he said.

Villar said, "A National Food Security Plan should be immediately charted to offset the economic hardship this crisis poses to inflict on the people."