(MANILA BULLETIN)

The newly-formed Murang Pagkain Super-committee in the House of Representatives has traced the “biggest agricultural price manipulation case" involving rice--the Filipino staple food--to the previous Duterte administration.

Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda, overall chairman of the five-way panel, said on Tuesday, Nov. 26 this case involved alleged rice importation anomalies that cost Filipino consumers billions. 

What's worse is that Salceda considers it "unresolved", and has thus allowed cartels to exploit the country’s food supply.

“The biggest case of price manipulation in the agricultural sector remains to be the cornering of import permits in 2016-2018,” Salceda said during the super-committee's first formal hearing Tuesday. 

Rodrigo Duterte was Philippine president from 2016 to 2022.

Salceda noted how private sector control over rice importation and the manipulation of import permits during the period led to a significant spike in rice prices in 2018, with consumers paying up to P8 more per kilo. 

P88.6-b loss

Salceda estimated the total economic loss at P88.6 billion. 

He said that the issue only eased after the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) abolished in 2019 the permit system administered by the National Food Authority (NFA).

Salceda said it remains to be known who in the private sector were granted rice importation permits by the NFA during the two-year period.

Bicolano also inquired about the status of alleged P2-billion bribery issue within the NFA in 2018, where certain officials were identified in previous Senate hearings as being involved in the cornering of import permits.

The officials named include Marlon Barillo, Marigold De Castro, Richie Carpio, Mercedes Yacapin, Rocky Valdez, and Judy Carol Dansal, who was later appointed NFA administrator by then-President Rodrigo Duterte.

Nobody was jailed

Salceda said that cartels also took advantage of the NFA’s diversion of palay (unhusked rice) procurement funds from supporting farmers to paying off loans.

“No one has gone to jail for allegations of bribery in obtaining import permits, or for the NFA’s failure to undercut cartels by diverting palay procurement funds to loan payments,” Salceda pointed out.

“What happened to the charges that then-presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government was going to file in September 2018?” the veteran congressman wondered. 

During the Tuesday hearing, Salceda requested the committee secretariat to send letters to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman to determine whether any cases have been filed against government officials implicated in the Duterte-era rice price manipulation scandal.

He also requested a letter to the DOJ to confirm if a formal investigation was ever initiated into former NFA Administrator Jason Aquino.

In addition, Salceda called for letters to the NFA requesting a list of individuals and corporations granted rice import permits from 2016 to 2018, and to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for a detailed record of all rice import arrivals during the same period.

“We reserve the right to invoke subpoena powers to secure these documents,” he underscord.

The Murang Pagkain Super-committee was created through House Resolution (HR) No. 254, introduced by Speaker Martin Romualdez. It is meant to address critical issues in the country’s food supply chain, including price manipulation, smuggling, and hunger.

It brings together five House committees—Ways and Means, Trade and Industry, Agriculture and Food, Social Services, and the Special Committee on Food Security—to craft solutions aimed at ensuring affordable and accessible food for all Filipinos.