NFA blamed for rising rice prices

Photo from FACEBOOK / Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian

The senator said it may be for the better if NFA is to be abolished.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday blamed the rising prices of rice partly on the National Food Authority (NFA).

In a radio interview, the senator dismissed assumptions that the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law kicked the prices of different goods and services in the country up. Gatchalian said the NFA is partly liable due to the problem in its operations and failure to comply with its responsibilities of stabilizing rice prices and sustaining the staple’s availability.

He also claimed that the agency does not monitor purchases of NFA rice and omits buyer’s social class which is also important since the NFA is tasked to provide cheap rice to the poor.

Before the Senate hearing on the TRAIN law’s impact on inflation last 16 August, the senator revealed having sent orders to probe Valenzuela’s local markets as there were no supplies of NFA rice available.

More pressing is the NFA’s accumulated losses that, according to the senator, has ballooned to almost P150 billion.

The senator said it may be for the better if NFA is to be abolished and prices on rice to be deregulated with the government carefully monitoring its market.

“Lets remember. If a government agency is losing, we are all paying for it. As a taxpayer we are the ones who give subsidy to losing government corporations,” Gatchalian said.