Piñol tells 'real story' behind 2018 rice crisis
Published Jul 16, 2019 11:45 am
By Marjaleen Ramos
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol on Monday took to social media to tell the “real story” behind the country’s rice crisis last year.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN)
"As I prepare to take on my new assignment from President Rody Duterte, I would like to leave behind a clean slate and tell the real story behind some of the most controversial issues which surfaced from mid-2016 to mid-2019," Piñol said in a Facebook post.
Piñol cited the Rice Tariffication Law and the drop of Copra prices, as well as the problems affecting the coconut industry as among these controversies.
"In this post, I will write about the so-called "Rice Crisis" of 2018 which started as early as February when the National Food Authority (NFA) announced that it was running out of stocks of the imported rice it was selling in the market at P27 per kilo, obviously catering to the poor and at the same time stabilizing the price of commercial rice in the market."
He said he had to write about it as there were reports that blamed him for the "rice crisis."
The agriculture secretary recalled that from July 2016 to September 2018, the NFA was under the Office of the Cabinet Secretary and the Department of Agriculture (DA) was not even a member of the NFA Council, the governing body which sets the policies and decides on whether to import rice or not.
In October 2017, Piñol said NFA Administrator Jason Aquino asked the NFA Council to allow the agency to import rice as it was running low on its buffer stocks, which was opposed by majority of the members of the Council.
He also cited that in 2017, the Philippine rice industry recorded its highest harvest in history with 19.28-million metric tons, topping by almost 2-million metric tons the last harvest of the previous administration.
Even with the damage caused by 22 typhoons last year, Piñol said the rice industry still posted a harvest of 19.06-million metric tons.
“Even with that record harvest, the Philippines was still short of about 7% of its total rice requirements and that during the lean months from July to September, there was really a need to inject the market with imported rice," he said.
"In April 2018, President Duterte had to step in and order the NFA Council to allow the NFA to import. By then, however, the rice traders already knew that with the absence of the NFA Rice in the market, they were free to manipulate the prices of commercial rice. Prices of commercial rice started to go up as early as March until September of 2018."
He said reports of increasing rice prices came out in July. Zamboanga City was placed under a “state of calamity” in August as rice prices soared to as high as P70 to P80 per kilo.
“When I heard of these reports, I called up Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and volunteered to help diffuse the Zamboanga City Rice Crisis," Pinol said.
"I told him that while the NFA Rice Supply issue does not involve the DA, as Secretary of Agriculture, I had to do something about it. I even travelled to Tawi-tawi and Patikul, Sulu to check on the rice supply situation," he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the Executive Order (EO) formally returning the National Food Authority (NFA), the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), and the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA) under the wings of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in September 2018.
Piñol said that after the transfer, the SRP strategy was implemented and the importation of rice stocks for the NFA was immediately approved, adding that rice prizes stabilized and the "rice crisis" issues died down.
“It has established sufficient buffer stocks with its last rice importation still enough to supply the market until the end of August this year.”
He added that the transfer made history by posting the biggest local palay procurement to beef up its buffer stocks of 15 days at any given time.
“President Duterte was right in his latest pronouncement: There was really NO RICE CRISIS. It was just a simple case of mismanagement resulting from disagreements between the NFA Council and the NFA. At that time, the DA was not yet involved,” Piñol said.
Piñol said he made the post as some members of the Economic Team have pointed to the 2018 "Rice Crisis" as the basis for their controversial move to liberalise the rice industry.
“My parents, both public school teachers and farmers, taught me and my brothers a very important lesson in life: If you are wrong, admit it and apologize. Make amends and correct the mistake,” Piñol said.
“But they also taught us to: "Stand up and fight for your right when you are falsely accused of a wrongdoing," he continued.
Piñol made it clear that he and the DA had absolutely no part in the 2018 “rice crisis”
“You want to know who caused it all? Check the minutes of the NFA Council meeting in October 2017. The written records cannot be altered. This is the truth and nothing but the truth.”
Piñol ended his post with hastags #DontBlameMeForYourBlunders!, #IWontBeYourScapegoat! And #LivesNotNumbersMatter!.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN)
"As I prepare to take on my new assignment from President Rody Duterte, I would like to leave behind a clean slate and tell the real story behind some of the most controversial issues which surfaced from mid-2016 to mid-2019," Piñol said in a Facebook post.
Piñol cited the Rice Tariffication Law and the drop of Copra prices, as well as the problems affecting the coconut industry as among these controversies.
"In this post, I will write about the so-called "Rice Crisis" of 2018 which started as early as February when the National Food Authority (NFA) announced that it was running out of stocks of the imported rice it was selling in the market at P27 per kilo, obviously catering to the poor and at the same time stabilizing the price of commercial rice in the market."
He said he had to write about it as there were reports that blamed him for the "rice crisis."
The agriculture secretary recalled that from July 2016 to September 2018, the NFA was under the Office of the Cabinet Secretary and the Department of Agriculture (DA) was not even a member of the NFA Council, the governing body which sets the policies and decides on whether to import rice or not.
In October 2017, Piñol said NFA Administrator Jason Aquino asked the NFA Council to allow the agency to import rice as it was running low on its buffer stocks, which was opposed by majority of the members of the Council.
He also cited that in 2017, the Philippine rice industry recorded its highest harvest in history with 19.28-million metric tons, topping by almost 2-million metric tons the last harvest of the previous administration.
Even with the damage caused by 22 typhoons last year, Piñol said the rice industry still posted a harvest of 19.06-million metric tons.
“Even with that record harvest, the Philippines was still short of about 7% of its total rice requirements and that during the lean months from July to September, there was really a need to inject the market with imported rice," he said.
"In April 2018, President Duterte had to step in and order the NFA Council to allow the NFA to import. By then, however, the rice traders already knew that with the absence of the NFA Rice in the market, they were free to manipulate the prices of commercial rice. Prices of commercial rice started to go up as early as March until September of 2018."
He said reports of increasing rice prices came out in July. Zamboanga City was placed under a “state of calamity” in August as rice prices soared to as high as P70 to P80 per kilo.
“When I heard of these reports, I called up Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and volunteered to help diffuse the Zamboanga City Rice Crisis," Pinol said.
"I told him that while the NFA Rice Supply issue does not involve the DA, as Secretary of Agriculture, I had to do something about it. I even travelled to Tawi-tawi and Patikul, Sulu to check on the rice supply situation," he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the Executive Order (EO) formally returning the National Food Authority (NFA), the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), and the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA) under the wings of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in September 2018.
Piñol said that after the transfer, the SRP strategy was implemented and the importation of rice stocks for the NFA was immediately approved, adding that rice prizes stabilized and the "rice crisis" issues died down.
“It has established sufficient buffer stocks with its last rice importation still enough to supply the market until the end of August this year.”
He added that the transfer made history by posting the biggest local palay procurement to beef up its buffer stocks of 15 days at any given time.
“President Duterte was right in his latest pronouncement: There was really NO RICE CRISIS. It was just a simple case of mismanagement resulting from disagreements between the NFA Council and the NFA. At that time, the DA was not yet involved,” Piñol said.
Piñol said he made the post as some members of the Economic Team have pointed to the 2018 "Rice Crisis" as the basis for their controversial move to liberalise the rice industry.
“My parents, both public school teachers and farmers, taught me and my brothers a very important lesson in life: If you are wrong, admit it and apologize. Make amends and correct the mistake,” Piñol said.
“But they also taught us to: "Stand up and fight for your right when you are falsely accused of a wrongdoing," he continued.
Piñol made it clear that he and the DA had absolutely no part in the 2018 “rice crisis”
“You want to know who caused it all? Check the minutes of the NFA Council meeting in October 2017. The written records cannot be altered. This is the truth and nothing but the truth.”
Piñol ended his post with hastags #DontBlameMeForYourBlunders!, #IWontBeYourScapegoat! And #LivesNotNumbersMatter!.