Check NFA policies amid surging prices - senator

A resolution has been filed at the Senate seeking a review of programs and policies of the National Food Authority (NFA) to check if the agency is keeping up with the country’s increasing population. Senator Francis Pangilinan filed last Tuesday Senate Resolution 393 urging the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food to look into NFA’s programs on rice in the face of surging food prices and rising costs in the agriculture sector. “The NFA is an integral part of our goal in attaining complete self-sufficiency. It is currently struggling with staggering debts and regulating food in the country. With this review, we ought to be able to institute needed reforms to help out the NFA," he said in a statement. The resolution was filed after consultation with major players in the agriculture and fisheries sector in a national summit last month, he added. The proposal came weeks after the Aquino administration announced that it is considering the privatization of the NFA due to the agency’s increasing debt and anomalies involving its officials. The senator said that the agency, which is tasked to ensure food security and the stability of rice supply and prices, "clearly needs reforms" to make it "more cost-efficient and more streamlined." “The reforms shall cover efforts to improve agricultural productivity, access to quality seeds, improving irrigation systems and providing financial schemes for farmers," he said. He added that the government should also consider transferring the NFA’s role as rice importer to farmer associations and private traders. “All these are geared towards our goal of attaining complete food self-sufficiency," he said. According to government data, the NFA has accumulated P171 billion in debts as of 2009. The agency has earlier said it plans to import less than a million metric tons of rice to ensure sufficient supply during the lean months starting July. The Philippines is currently the world’s largest importer of rice, a Filipino staple. — With Andreo Calonzo/VS, GMA News