ALBAY Rep. Joey Salceda, chair of the newly formed Murang Pagkain Supercommittee, on Tuesday lamented that the “biggest agricultural price manipulation case,” involving alleged rice importation anomalies during the Duterte administration that cost Filipino consumers billions, has remained unresolved.
Speaking at the supercommittee’s inaugural hearing on Tuesday, Salceda stressed the need for accountability, citing failures that let cartels 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.
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.
He estimated the total economic loss at P88.6 billion, noting that the issue only eased after the Rice Tariffication Law 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.
He 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.
Salceda said cartels also took advantage of the NFA’s diversion of palay 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?” he asked.
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 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,” Salceda stressed.
The Murang Pagkain Supercommittee was created through House Resolution No. 254, introduced by Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, to address critical issues in the country’s food supply chain, including price manipulation, smuggling and hunger.
It brings together key 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.
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