Priest: Rice price hike stalls Church's feeding program

A Catholic Church’s feeding program has been stalled after the government increased by P2/kg the prices of National Food Authority (NFA) rice, a priest has said. "We have put our order from the NFA on hold because of this recent price increase," Caritas Manila executive director Father Anton Pascual said in an interview on Church-run Radio Veritas. "We have NFA-registered parishes and they sell rice at lower prices but some parishes have stopped selling and it’s also affecting our ‘Hapag-asa’ feeding program," he added. Excerpts of the interview were posted on the UCAN website Thursday night. Last Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala announced the P2/kg hike in the prices of NFA rice, saying the proceeds from the adjustment would go into a fund to protect farmers from profiteering middlemen. Alcala even reassured the public there will be no more hikes after the P2/kg adjustment, and warned profiteers against exploiting the situation. Still, Pascual said the price hike was a surprise to them because the government had earlier announced an oversupply of rice in the country. Last July, NFA administrator Angelito Banayo claimed the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration imported P100 million worth of rice, amid a reported oversupply of the commodity. "Our warehouses are filled to the rafters. We are swimming in rice," Banayo had been quoted as saying. According to Pascual, the Church's feeding program is suffering due to the price hike. He said the Manila Archdiocese feeds some 5,000 poor people under the Hapag-asa program, while Caritas Manila feeds some 10,000 throughout Metro Manila. Despite the price adjustment, Pascual said: "We will not stop the feeding program but it will definitely be more costly than before." — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV