Saturday, April 19, 2008 Provincial local officials warned on rice quotas
INTERIOR and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno on Friday warned provincial officials against imposing quotas on the rice and food that they would send to other areas in the country, adding that it would be detrimental especially to the National Capital Region (NCR).
"There is a problem with that because you cannot have rice-producing provinces refusing to send rice to other provinces and then vegetable-producing provinces refusing to send vegetable to other provinces. We are one country. We cannot put quotas on one province to another," said Puno in an interview at the first assembly of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (Agfo) at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
"I'll give you an example. If Isabela and Cagayan set a quota on their rice, Metro Manila would be affected because we receive a large amount of our supply (from the provinces)," he said.
He said the imposition of quotas would distort market conditions and would cause panic in the country.
"Let's not get anybody excited or alarmed because we need to try to be calm about this entire situation. Let's not further cause panic. Let's think these things through and stay away from quotas or artificial measures that will affect the market," he said.
Several provinces have declared that they will ensure the needs of their population first, before sending surplus rice and other foodstuff to other areas.
Puno said he would check if any local government unit (LGU) has issued ordinances imposing such a quota and will review if any laws are violated. He said imposing a quota in itself violates free trade laws.
"The problem is the price, not the rice. There is rice. If you go anywhere there is rice," he said.
He said the National Food Authority (NFA) should also be consulted about the possibility of withdrawing subsidies to provinces that issue quotas. "The subsidy is all over the country. But if you would issue a quota, why should you receive a subsidy?" he asked.
Puno also said by tapping the churches, mosques and LGUs, Malacañang is not washing its hands off the responsibility of distributing or ensuring the supply of cheap NFA rice as alleged by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.
"We will respect his (Binay) opinion," he said.
Puno said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the LGUs should distribute the access cards "as soon as possible" so that the needs of the poorest of the poor would be assured.
He said Metro Manila is the focus because that is where the "most serious" situation.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the government could hardly predict how much farther the price of rice would go because it is also affected by the price of oil, which affects transportation and production costs.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in her speech during the Agfo meeting, said government is tapping the military and the police to take "swift and decisive actions" to make sure that the rice problem does not become a crisis.
"We are focusing on mitigating the (effects of the increase in) price to the best of our ability," Arroyo said.
She said government has worked to stabilize the supply of rice and given targeted subsidies to the poor while reaching out to Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations to secure supply.
Arroyo visited the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Commissary and Exchange Service (AFP-CES) to check on the supply of NFA rice and Tinapay ng Bayan. Because there is no tax, the price of NFA rice in the Afpces was only P18 per kilo instead of P18.25.
The Tinapay ng Bayan costs P36 per 550-gram loaf instead of P44-54, while the pan de sal (salt bread) costs P11 per pack instead of P12-20.
"We will go to the Camp Aguinaldo commissary because we are enlisting the Armed Forces to be an outlet for distributing this cheaper rice to the ordinary soldiers and their families. After all, they are among the less privileged in our society," Arroyo said.
The AFP has begun selling NFA rice at a cheaper price in its commissaries throughout the country to lessen the burden caused by the prevailing rice crisis on the soldiers, veterans and their dependents.
"All our outlets in the AFP Commissary and Exchange System will now be used as the distribution outlets which could serve veterans and soldiers," said AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. There are 32 military commissaries nationwide.
Esperon said they are selling the NFA rice mainly for the soldiers. "After all, soldiers, I must say, need also to have access to cheaper rice, including the veterans. Those civilians who are relatives or who have commissary privileges can take advantage of it," he said.
The AFP commissaries are selling NFA rice at P18 per kilo compared to P18.25 outside the camp. AFP-CES officials said they are selling the NFA rice at a cheaper price because items sold in commissaries are tax-subsidized.
"It's going to be nationwide," said Esperon of the military's selling of the NFA rice. "We have commissaries in Zamboanga, Davao and Cotabato but, of course, this is subject to availability of supply," the military chief added.
On whether the measure was initiated by him, Esperon said: "It was taken up in the Cabinet. It was one of our recommendations from the Armed Forces and we are very happy that it has been granted by the President and the Cabinet."
"Initially we are making available because of the space considerations, about 200 sacks (per commissary) and we will replenish as these are consumed. We cannot be selling by cavans here, by bags, it will be kilos," said Esperon. (JMR/VR/Sunnex)
