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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Follow PBBM's policy on rice, Romualdez tells DA exec who believes there's no 'cartel'

Follow PBBM's policy on rice, Romualdez tells DA exec who believes there's no 'cartel'

Published Aug 24, 2023 06:58 am

At A Glance

  • House Speaker Martin Romualdez has called on the "rice czar" of Department of Agriculture (DA), Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, to follow Malacañang's policy of ensuring the supply of affordable rice for Filipinos. 

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House Speaker Martin Romualdez (left), DA Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian (Speaker’s office)

 

 

 

 

 

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has called on the "rice czar" of Department of Agriculture (DA), Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, to follow Malacañang's policy of ensuring the supply of affordable rice for Filipinos. 

"We will call on our rice czar, si Usec. Sebastian ng (of) DA. Yun po ang hangarin po ng ating mahal na presidente, President Ferdinand R. Marcos na ibaba natin yung presyo (The desire of our beloved president, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, is to lower the price), Romualdez said Thursday, Aug. 24. 

"Let us follow his policy. So we are calling on Usec. Sebastian, siya ang in charge ng rice (he is in charge of rice). Na yung ginagawa natin, sana tutukan talaga na yung sapat na suplay, ibaba kaagad (They should focus on what we're doing in ensuring ample supply, it should be released immediately)," said the House leader. 

On Thursday morning, Romualdez and other House members took part in the inspection of several large rice warehouses in Bulacan. The inspection was part of the fact-finding mission of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) led by Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio. 

The team inspected the San Pedro Warehouse at the Inter-City Industrial Complex in Balagtas, Bulacan. Discovered inside the warehouse were hundreds of sacks of rice piled on too of each other. 

Romualdez, Leyte's 1st district congressman, said that what he saw was "technically hoarding". 

"Yung karamihan ng suplay dito aabot na ng three months eh, technically that’s hoarding...Kasi pag ini-embudo mo, pag hino-hoard mo, tumataas. Greed yan e. Di ba, gusto mo kumita, maghantay ka ng kaunti, mas malaki kita," he said. 

(Most of the supply here can reach is good for three months, technically that’s hoarding...because when you place it in a funnel, when you hoard it, the price goes up. That is greed. You want to earn big, so you hold on to the supply.) 

Coincidentally, Sebastian-- the DA's undersecretary for rice industry development--told the House Committee on Appropriations last Tuesday, Aug. 22 that he doesn't believe a rice cartel exists in the Philippines. 

"I don't believe Mr. Chair, [that] there's a rice cartel," he said during the DA's budget hearing. 

A cartel is a group whose members act in collusion to control the price of a certain commodity. 

The warehouse inspection was launched amid steadily rising prices of rice, the country’s staple grain.  
 

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LEOCADIO SEBASTIAN hoarding Martin Romualdez
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