Murang Pagkain Supercommittee Chairperson and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda called attention to what he described as the “biggest agricultural price manipulation case” in Philippine history.
The lawmaker lamented the lack of resolution in alleged rice importation anomalies during the Duterte administration, which cost Filipino consumers billions of pesos.
Salceda called for accountability as systemic failures allowed cartels to exploit the nation’s food supply and the National Food Authority (NFA)’s diversion of funds meant for palay procurement, leaving farmers unsupported after these were instead used to pay off loans.
“The biggest case of price manipulation in the agricultural sector remains to be the cornering of import permits from 2016 to 2018,” Salceda said during the committee’s Tuesday hearing.
He pointed out that private sector control over rice importation and the manipulation of import permits led to a significant price surge in 2018, with rice costing consumers up to P8 more per kilo. According to him, the total economic loss was approximately P88.6 billion.
Salceda noted the issue began to subside only after the 2019 enactment of the Rice Tariffication Law, which abolished the permit system previously administered by the NFA.
He said it remains unclear who among the private sector benefited from the NFA’s rice importation permits.
“No one has been held accountable for the bribery allegations surrounding import permits, or for the NFA’s failure to address cartel activities… What happened to the charges that then-presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said would be filed in September 2018?” Salceda said.
To address lingering questions, the lawmaker directed the committee secretariat to send letters to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman to inquire whether any cases have been filed against government officials involved in the scandal.
They would also seek the Justice Department’s confirmation on whether former NFA Administrator Jason Aquino was ever formally investigated, request the NFA to provide a list of individuals and corporations granted rice import permits from 2016 to 2018, and ask the Bureau of Customs for detailed records of all rice import arrivals during the same period.
