NFA sale of rice to big-time traders illegal and inimical to public interest

I write this on a personal capacity. I am appealing to President Aquino, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr., Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Angelito T. Banayo to please stop NFA’s practice of selling NFA rice stocks through the “Sale through Market—Determined Prices” (SMDP) or any other scheme that does not benefit the Filipino people. NFA rice should only be sold to accredited NFA retailers or through government institutions, or directly to the millions of government employees at retailer’s price.

The sale through SMDP (or any other scheme) to big-time rice traders is inimical to the public interest, and only further increases the debt burden of the NFA without any corresponding benefit to the general public. This is because any NFA rice stock sold thru SMDP (or any other scheme) to big time traders, say, from P20 to P22/kilo (way below the P25/kilo which the retailers pay to NFA) can be sold by these big time rice traders to end-consumers at any price ranging from P28/kilo to P32/kilo without fear of any penal sanctions and may be passed on as commercial rice.

Besides, selling NFA rice to big-time rice traders is never part of the NFA mandate. On the other hand, NFA rice retailers are duty-bound to sell (to end-consumers) the rice they buy from NFA at P25/kilo at only P27/kilo, else they face criminal sanctions.

—JOSE TAGANAHAN,

regional engineer,

National Food Authority Region 10, Cagayan de Oro City