Reasonable non-disclosure?

Uriel Quilinguing .

NO doubt there must be a grains agency to ensure the country’s food security. Be it National Food Authority or any other name doesn’t matter, as long as rice of good quality at affordable price is made available to every consumer. But that agency must have the primordial obligation to keep the public informed on what it is doing in the performance of its mandated function, more importantly the status of rice supply.

NFA-10 regional director Genaro Nuñez Jr., when asked, during an interaction with media practitioners last Tuesday, on the status of rice supply for Northern Mindanao in the midst of the ongoing dry spell, said there is “enough supply of rice until the month of August.” This, he said, is because they have been buffer-stocking, procuring from palay-producing provinces in the region, aside from the imported rice that arrived at the Cagayan de Oro port in January this year.

So, Northern Mindanao residents are now assured they will no longer be exploited by rice traders who pegged prices from P50 to P64 a kilo at the height of rice crisis since there was limited or no supply of NFA rice, at P27 to P34 a kilo, at all.

But that was all that Director Nuñez said; the latest rice supply inventory was not mentioned. His information officer, Hazel Belacho, when requested for reliable figures, begged off, saying she needed her boss’ clearance. Last Friday, she said the data should not be released to the media, for the public to know.

Pardon me if I am meticulous when it comes to that — could be the result of having spent about 10 years as economic development researcher and as a local government officer in government agencies. And in those years, statistics were in my fingertips because these served me well not only in my primary functions but also as the designated information officer.  

Later, I realized NFA-10 must have valid reasons why it has to keep the vital information to itself. First, rice inventory figures could unexpectedly change, not on the basis of the regional average daily rice consumption of about 28,000 to 29,000 metric tons, but due to occurrences of natural and man-made calamities. 

Second, the rice buffer-stock of NFA regional offices which, in the past, was supposed to last for  60 to 90 days, has reportedly been reduced to 15 days.

And, lastly, NFA regional offices may, upon approval of the NFA Council, transfer a portion of their buffer-stock rice inventory to other regions that badly need augmentation due to demand increases. In fact, Region 10 received some 57,000 bags of rice from Regions 7 and 11 early this year.  

If these are the reasons, I agree with Director Nuñez’ position of not disclosing to the public the day-to-day rice supply inventory.

For now, it’s enough for me to know that in January, this year, two vessels loaded with rice from Thailand arrived at Cagayan de Oro port, and that more than 600,00 bags of rice have already been dispersed and stored in various NFA warehouses.

Not only that, NFA-10 had procured a total 20,545 bags of palay in the last three months and these were what the farmers of Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, and Misamis Occidental harvested. Once milled, these can be translated to 13,354 bags at 50 kilograms each. (These were based on a report the Philippine Information Agency published on its Facebook wall.)

Aside from the contentious reasons I mentioned, I should convince myself that Director Nuñez was just echoing his boss’ earlier announcement that “there’s enough supply of rice for the next six to eight months.”

Well, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who also chairs the NFA Council, could be just too optimistic that, even if many provinces are suffering from dry spell and as a result palay farmers may not deliver his agency’s production targets, still there’s enough rice for all because  the “unimpeded importation of rice” due to implementation of the “Rice Tariffication Act” (Republic Act 11203) that should have taken effect last March 5.

Ironically, the measure’s implementing rules and regulations has yet to be formulated, the public consultations being conducted after the enactment of the law.

There are many in the agriculture sector who do not see rice tariffication as the panacea for the recurring rice supply shortages and that relying on rice imports runs counter to the desired long-term food self-sufficiency and stability.   

Being at the helm of the Department of Agriculture, which has eight bureaus and 19 attached agencies, the indefatigable Secretary Piñol is admittedly wearing several hats. I hope he and his “administrators” at NFA offices can still find time — during Lenten season — to reflect on how Joseph, the administrator of Egypt, exceptionally ensured food stability despite a seven-year drought.   

(Uriel C. Quilinguing is a former editor-in-chief of this paper and president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club. For reactions, send them to uriel_quilinguing@yahoo.com.)