ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Imee offers solutions to Philippine 'rice emergency'; slams corruption in NFA 

Imee offers solutions to Philippine 'rice emergency'; slams corruption in NFA 

Published May 10, 2024 07:21 am

At A Glance

  • Senator Imee Marcos is batting for government-to-government importation of rice bypassing the National Food Authority (NFA) amid what she described as the current "rice emergency" that the country is facing. 

Imee Marcos.jpgSenator Imee Marcos (Senate PRIB)

Senator Imee Marcos is batting for government-to-government importation of rice bypassing the National Food Authority (NFA) amid what she described as the current "rice emergency" that the country is facing.

This, as the presidential sister cited the NFA's tendency to get involved in corruption scandals.

“Takot na takot ako...kinakabahan ako sa posisyon ng administrasyon na palawakin pa ang kapangyarihan ng NFA. Nakalimutan na ba natin? Marso pa lang yun, na-suspende ang 139 employees,” she said in a recent interview.

(I'm very afraid...the administration's position of expanding the mandate of the NFA worries me. Have we forgotten? It was only last March, 139 employees were suspended.)

Sentor Marcos was alluding to the six-month preventive suspension meted by the Office of the Ombudsman in March on 139 NFA officials, led by NFA administrator Roderico Bioco, over the alleged disadvantageous sale of rice buffer stocks.

“Mag-usap tayo, magkano ba talaga ang cost of production? Magkasundo sa minimum price. So ‘wag na yung P20, P30 [per kilo]; benta na ang pag-usapan. At ibenta sa LGU, coop at iba pa. Bago pa nang taniman, magkasundo na. Parang outsourced o contract farming ang labas,” she explained.

(Let's talk, how much really is the cost of production? Let's agree on the minimum price. Forget about P20, P30 per kilo: let's talk about selling price. Then sell it to the local government unit, the cooperative and others. Let's strike a deal before the planting season starts. This is akin to outsourced or contract farming.)

The lady senator also echoed her call to cut out the middlemen as farmers continue to lament the huge disparity between farm gate prices and retail prices of goods.

“Makikita mo naman sa presyo, bagsak na bagsak ang presyo sa bukid, sa farm gate. Pagdating sa palengke, papaano umabot ng P60 yun? Talagang labis-labis naman ang kinikita noong nasa gitna, noong middleman natin. Ano bang ginagawa ng trader at byahero? Sobrang yaman naman nila,” she noted.

(As you can see, the prices have plunged at the farm, the farm gate. So how did it become P60 per kilo at the market? Our middlemen are making a killing. What are the traders and delivery people doing? They have become overly rich.)

Related Tags

National Food Authority imee marcos Rice prices
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.