Albay gov pushes austerity to build rice buffer stocks

By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 17:30:00 03/27/2008
INQUIRER.net

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines--Despite assurances by the government that there is no rice shortage, Albay Governor Joey Salceda, a key economic adviser to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is implementing austerity measures to generate savings for strategic rice buffer stocks.

Salceda said the Albay provincial government will impose a 10-percent reserve on Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) and a moratorium on the purchase of information technology equipment and motor vehicles.

To begin April 15, the austerity measures are expected to generate some P16 million to be spent for food security, said the governor.

“The savings generated will be earmarked for a strategic rice buffer. We have to ensure access of poor families to rice,” Salceda said.

However, lawyer Jose Guevarra, assistant regional director of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Bicol, said it is not yet necessary for such measures.

He said Bicol still has 480,000 bags of rice, which is good for 55 days. On April 2, 120,000 more bags from Vietnam are expected to arrive in the region.

“We have no problem with supply, you can see it in the markets. However, long queues might be seen on government rice, not because of shortage, but because commercial rice has increased [in price] to as much as P32,” Guevarra said.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, in a visit to Libmanan, Camarines Sur early this week, said there was no rice shortage, but only an increase in prices of the staple because of hiked fertilizer and oil prices.

"The price of fertilizer has increased by 150 percent while the price of oil in the world market has reached more than $110 per barrel," Yap said.

In Bicol, a ranking NFA official disclosed last year, unscrupulous traders are reportedly able to purchase as many as 1,000 bags of rice from the NFA at a higher price, re-mill this and sell it in markets for a hefty profit.

Yap said the NFA has began investigating officials suspected of colluding with unscrupulous traders.

Gueverra said they will not tolerate NFA employees involved in this anomalous trade but stressed that due process has to be observed. He said there are NFA officials in Naga City who are currently under investigation while their manager has been reassigned.

Earlier this week, the national government ordered the immediate re-licensing of rice traders nationwide.

There are over 3,000 rice traders in Bicol.

Guevarra said the re-licensing is aimed at getting rid of “fly-by-night” traders without affecting the current distribution system.

“The revalidation of license will make it easier to track unscrupulous traders who may be licensed but do not have outlets and stores, or who may have these facilities but have already stopped using them,” Guevarra said.

In terms of rice production, the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon in Bicol are self-sufficient while Camarines Norte, Masbate, and Catanduanes are deficient.

The only surplus area is Camarines Sur, which ranked No. 7 in the 2007 crop year, having produced a total of 560,809 metric tons.

Yap boasted of a 16.3-million metric ton increase in rice production in 2007, which, he said, was a record high.