Saturday, June 21, 2008 Agri secretary warns abusive rice traders By Carlo P. Mallo
FURIOUS over reports that some traders and persons are profiteering from the high price of rice in the country, Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap sternly warned those who are even thinking of profiteering on the food staple.
"We're going to shut you down, we will file charges against you," Yap told reporters in an interview.
The agriculture secretary added that they will trace the supply chain of the production of the rice all the way down to the raw inputs being used in the production of the food staple.
"We will find out who is hoarding, speculating, or price gouging, and we will stop you," Yap said.
Yap was in Davao City last Wednesday to take a closer look at the situation in Mindanao wherein the price of commercial rice reached as high as P52 per kilo in a matter of two weeks from its previous price of P34 per kilo.
Yap also had a meeting with the rice traders of the city.
He said the government has already spent more than P6 billion in providing government subsidized rice since January this year. But still, he insists that the government was prepared for the situation saying that it has stocked up enough supply.
"The price at which we bought the rice was at $650 a ton when the price now is already $1000 a ton," Yap said.
