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CEBU CITY, Philippines – Government agencies and grains retailers have undertaken measures to cushion the effect of spiraling rice prices.
Edgar Diez, regional enforcement and investigation officer of National Food Authority Central Visayas (NFA-7), said the agency will hire more than 100 inspectors to monitor NFA-accredited outlets in Metro Cebu.
The NFA-7 employees were also asked to help monitor the different outlets.
“Aside from the existing regional monitoring task force, different government agencies are expected to meet next week to form the Inter-Agency Task Force, which will heighten our monitoring on rice supply,” he said.
Diez said Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke (BGP) and Tindahan Natin (TN) outlets will be subjected to random monitoring starting Monday.
The BGPs are rice distribution outlets located inside the market, while TNs are stores located in depressed areas in the country to cater to the needs of the “poorest of the poor.”
Both outlets sell NFA rice.
There are 220 NFA accredited outlets in Metro Cebu – 83 of these are BGPs and 137 are TN outlets.
On Tuesday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the revocation of licenses of 5, 000 NFA retailers after hearing reports of rice diversion.
The retailers will be required to reapply for licenses.
Although the directive has not reached the regional office, Erwin Gok-ong, president of Cebu Market Vendors Development Cooperative (Cemvedco), said he was confident that with heightened monitoring, they would “sanitize the pool of rice traders from unscrupulous people.”
The Cemvedco is composed of 1, 800 vendors in Carbon market.
Gok-ong said that there is an abundant supply of rice in the market although the supply is expensive.
Teresa Alegado, national president of the Grain Retailers Confederation of the Philippines, said the Cebu grain retailers are also feeling the supply shortage of both rice and corn.
Alegado, however, advised retailers to sell rice to the intended beneficiaries at the right price.
Her call came amid reports of the overpricing of rice in the market and short supply of rice.
Alegado said the evidence of the rice shortage is in the high prices in the market now.
She said Tuesday that the retailers in Cebu have difficulty sourcing rice since they can no longer buy the usual volume of rice grains from the wholesalers.
She explained that the wholesalers just tell the retailers here to share among themselves the available stocks.
Alegado said she considered the shortage in the supply of rice as abnormal since these months are harvest season.
Alegado attributed the shortage of supply of rice to a not so good harvest due to the climate, pests and the conversion of farmlands to subdivisions.
Alegado also noted the increasing price of corn, which has become even more expensive than other rice varieties.
She said that a sack of 39 kilos of corn, which used to be sold at P600 to P650, is being sold at P1,000.
Alegado said this is an indication that the corn supply is also running short.
On hoarding allegations, Alegado said this was not the situation.
“Can you afford to hoard when you don’t have anything to sell,” Alegado asked in Cebuano.
But Rogelio and Nelia Lequigan, commercial rice retailers at the Carbon market, said there's a possibility that some rice traders are "possibly hoarding and controlling the supply to bring prices higher.
“There are suppliers who told us that there's no supply today. In the past, there is no limit in the number of bags we order. Now, we are being limited,” Rogelio Lequigan said.
In the meantime, consumers brace for more price increases as reports of looming rice shortage continue.
Merly Abaquita, a candy vendor in Carbon, said good quality rice is too expensive at P29 a kilo.
She said they see to it that they only cook what can be eaten, and buy quality rice to ensure that these will not get spoiled easily.
For Carbon retailers, Gok-ong said they were encouraged to strictly sell NFA rice at P18.25 a kilo.
“Carbon is a regional market. People from different places in the region come here to buy rice. That is why we see to it that we can sell rice to the intended beneficiaries,” Gok-ong said.
Carbon market has eight NFA accredited outlets. /With a report from Correspondent Chris A. Ligan
