THE former head of the Arroyo Administration’s Presidential Management staff, Secretary Elena Bautista-Horn, has defended the regime she served from Aquino administration claims that the National Food Authority (NFA) allowed rice to rot in its warehouses. She said most of the rotting rice was received as donations from the United Nations World Food Programme.
In other words, the rotting rice was not purchases by the NFA.
Former Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who is now a congressman from Bohol province, also defended his administration’s record.
He made it clear that any “over-importation” as claimed by President Benigno Aquino 3rd in his State of the Nation Address on July 26, was done to carry out the National Food Authority’s mandate of preventing a rice shortage, stabilizing the prices of the staple, and protecting local farmers from selling to merchants at depressed prices.
Representative Yap also stressed that importation decisions were done collegially by an inter-agency council.
The council has members from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Yap said, the Department of Trade and Industry, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (to confirm the El Niño or La Niña effects on local production) and of course the NFA.
The funding specifics are then reviewed by representative of the Bangko Sentral and Finance department.
The actual importation must also be approved by the NEDA.
Congressman Yap also pointed out that in 2009 the inter-agency council recommended on the basis of all factors that NFA should import 3.2 metric tons of rice. In the end the rice agency only imported 2.3 metric tons.
Horn appealed to the present officials of the NFA not to rashly blame the Arroyo administration officials.
Other defenders of the Arroyo Administration’s NFA were the Minority Leader of the House congressman Edcel Lagman.
He said the Aquino officials should not issue alarmist statements that are not true—like claiming that rice is rotting in the NFA warehouses and that there is no money left in the government coffers.
Such statements, congressman Lagman said, would only cause panic among some people.
He said it does not serve the Aquino administration well when the figures it uses to cause headlines are shown to be wrong. –Manila Times
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