00:00The Commission on Audit cited the government's loss of more than Php 5 billion
00:06due to the loss of the sale of rice by the National Food Authority or NFA
00:11from 2019 to 2023.
00:14The buffer stock of rice was still missing
00:17even though the NFA already held the Php 1 billion fund for the purchase of rice.
00:23Maki Pulido was on the scene.
00:25In the report of the Commission on Audit from 2019 to 2023,
00:32the National Food Authority sold more than 13 million bags of rice
00:37for Php 25 per kilo instead of Php 33 per kilo.
00:41The government's loss was more than Php 5 billion.
00:44In the past, the NFA's defense was that the rice would age
00:47so it needed to be sold.
00:49However, first and foremost, the NFA should not sell
00:52because it is now prohibited by the Rice Tarification Law.
00:55Second, the NFA also sold rice that is of good quality.
01:00At that time, the price of rice went up to more than Php 50 per kilo.
01:05The Ombudsman ordered the 6-month suspension of the 139 NFA officials
01:11due to the low sale of rice last March.
01:13You didn't see Php 30 in the market.
01:16If they are also retailers, plus Php 3 or Php 4, that's the retail price.
01:20So you should be able to buy Php 30 in the market.
01:24But you didn't see Php 30 at that time.
01:27The mandate of the NFA is to import rice for calamity
01:30and to buy rice from local farmers.
01:33But COA said that in 2023, the NFA's buffer stock was insufficient
01:37even though the NFA already held Php 9 billion to buy Php 495,000 metric tons of rice.
01:44Only Php 1.5 billion was used for the fund,
01:47which is why the buffer stock is lacking by 84.16%.
01:51It is possible that the NFA was not able to buy
01:53because the farmers chose to sell to traders at a higher price.
01:58But the COA said that there are many places in the country where traders buy cheaply.
02:03They should have intervened in places where farmers buy cheaply.
02:08If the NFA does that, the farmers will not be able to sell cheaply.
02:13It's like price support.
02:14It's like the agency is just trying to buy when the trader prices go below.
02:19The NFA said that the reason for the NFA's low procurement
02:23is the intense competition and aggressive buying by private businessmen,
02:27the problem with the quality of the rice produced,
02:29the high price of rice, the lack of supply,
02:33the high demand and the export ban of India to non-Basmati rice.
02:37The NFA will follow the COA's recommendation
02:40to continue their efforts to maintain the 300,000 metric tons buffer stock of rice.
02:46As for the price of rice,
02:48there are rumors that they are planning for the next NFA Council meeting.
02:55For GMA Integrated News, Macky Pulido, for Tutok, 24 hours.
03:10For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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