The biggest case of price manipulation in the agricultural sector remains to be the cornering of import permits from 2016 to 2018, Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda stressed.
During the Murang Pagkain Supercommittee hearing on Tuesday, the anomalies concerning rice manipulation by private sectors were highlighted by the panel. According to Salceda, the country’s biggest economic loss spiked to PHP88.6 billion during the Duterte administration.
The issues concerning rice importation anomalies remain unresolved to this day. In 2018, the rice import permits were manipulated, causing rice prices to climb up. Salceda noted that no one was held liable for the allegations of permit manipulation. The spike in prices is linked to the National Food Authority (NFA), the panel said.
“No one has gone to jail for allegations of bribery in obtaining import permits, or for the NFA’s failure to undercut cartels by diverting palay procurement funds to loan payments,” Salceda said.
According to Salceda, the NFA diverted the palay procurement funds towards loan payments. The supposed funds were allotted to support farmers. Moreover, the Committee Chairman also questioned former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque about the charges that were supposed to be filed.
“What happened to the charges that then Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government was going to file in September 2018?” he said.
The problem eased only after the Rice Tariffication Law abolished the NFA’s permit system in 2019.
Salceda affirmed the Committee’s commitment to holding people responsible for the anomalies in price manipulations.
