When rice supply tightened and prices in the world market soared sometime ago, industry watchers blamed one country in particular for further pushing up the price to dizzying heights: the Philippines. The government wanted to ensure a steady rice supply to stabilize local prices, which had jumped as global prices surged, with the problem aggravated by hoarders and profiteers. People waited in long, snaking lines last seen during the Marcos regime to obtain subsidized rice from the government. With the flood of imported rice, supply started to stabilize, but analysts noted that Philippine bids pushed up world prices.
Prices have stabilized although they have not returned to the levels before the start of the supply crunch. In his first State of the Nation Address, President Aquino lambasted what he described as excessive rice importation. In 2004, he said, the country lacked 117,000 metric tons of rice and the government imported 900,000 MT. In 2007, the imports totaled 1.827 million MT to meet a shortfall of only 589,000. Worse, the President said, some of the rice imports were allowed to rot away in warehouses.
Former agriculture officials have denied that rice imports were allowed to rot away, but current officials are standing pat on the President’s story. The allegation is not new. His predecessor, now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, had also blown her top during her presidency when she inspected a warehouse where rice was found rotting. Former agriculture officials have also defended the amount of rice imported in the previous administration. Critics have alleged that commissions were earned from rice imports particularly from a certain country.
The President’s disclosures of past anomalies in the NFA and at least four other offices are being investigated. There are ways to find out if the previous administration had overpriced rice importations; there are websites showing international rice prices. Even as the probes are conducted, the government must rationalize the importation of rice, and study ways of increasing local production to reduce the country’s dependence on imports
