WALA ba silang group chat? Nagkakagulatan ba sila o nag-aaway na?
We hope that Secretary Diokno will not be “surprised” that the wet season harvests are already starting to happen. Ang pagpapatupad ng zero-tariff importation sa panahon ng anihan ay disaster na sasalanta sa ating mga lokal na magsasaka. Alam ito ng Department of Agriculture, baka bukas kay Undersecretary for Rice Sebastian naman tayo makarinig. Never open the import floodgates during harvest season or the local farmers would be on the losing end again.
Even worse, the proposal doesn't mention a national calamity that would authorize a role for the government in the importation. The Diokno proposal also does not say that the importation will only be for the National Food Authority’s buffer stock, which means that the importation will be done by the private sector. Magulo because this goes against the administration's goal of importing rice from Vietnam through government-to-government trade. Ano ba talaga?
Mas mainam na ibasura ang planong government-to-government rice importation na pwedeng magtulak sa maraming rice importers na tumigil na sa negosyo — kasalungat naman ng layon ng zero-tariff proposal na engganyuhin silang mag-negosyo.
Dapat pagtuunan din ng pansin na tulungan ang National Food Authority na sundin ang batas at gastusin nito ang P7-billion na budget para bumili ng buffer stock mula sa mga lokal na magsasaka at para sapat ang suplay pagtama ng El Nino hanggang susunod na lean season.
I will file a resolution to shed light on these contradicting policies and to give the executive branches of government, which don't work together, a chance to talk to each other.