ANGARA SEES MASSIVE NFA REVAMP AS CURATIVE MEASURE
FOR RICE CRISIS

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today sees the need to revamp the National Food Authority (NFA), saying that this would translate into more significant savings which can be rechanneled as subsidy or food assistance to poor Filipino people.

"One of the recommendations of the Congressional Commission on Agricultural Modernization (Agricom) on which the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) is based was the dismantling of the National Food Authority (NFA). However, I am for keeping NFA but only for its limited but important role of implementing the rice and corn support policy, which serves the country's buffer stock in case of emergency and calamity," said Senator Angara, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food.

He added, "The NFA should give up its trade functions to the private sector, which can do a much better job. If private rice traders are allowed to import and sell rice without any restriction, the supply and price of rice will likely stabilize. More important, smuggling, corruption, and hoarding will be eliminated."

In a review of NFA's operations, its projected accumulated losses in 2007 amounted to Php48 billion while its outstanding loans were around Php69 billion.

"If NFA continues to operate as it does today, it is projected that in the year 2010 its accumulated losses will hit P111 billion and its outstanding loans will reach P136 billion. This uncontrolled and wasteful expenditure of scarce public funds must stop," Angara explained.

He also said that the 50-percent tariff imposed on rice is too high; hence the senator proposed that it should be reduced in order to make rice affordable and available.

Meanwhile, Senator Angara also suggested setting up targeted food aid, since the price of rice is generally not affordable to the poor. With the food aid program, a passbook shall be given to poor Filipino families which can be used when buying rice at a fixed price at designated outlets.

"To target the most vulnerable sectors accurately, a registry in each locality should be prepared, supervised by the DSWD in order to identify and locate families that need the urgent assistance of the State. Wives and mothers should be the holders of the passbook in which the food rations that they would receive can be recorded. In addition, distributors as well as retailers will be given a rebate by the DSWD, the agency mandated to help the poor," Senator Angara said.