SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez on Sunday backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to abolish the National Food Authority (NFA) Council amid the reported shortage of low-priced rice in the country.
Interviewed over radio dzMM, Alvarez said there is no longer a need for an NFA Council since the same job can be done by the NFA administrator, especially if the administrator does his job well.
The House leader lamented how the Philippines needed to import rice from countries that learned rice planting technology from studying agriculture in the country.
Alvarez pointed out that the country’s rice research center in Los Baños, Laguna has been the training ground for researchers from neighboring countries like Cambodia and Thailand and yet the Philippines is now importing rice from these countries.
Last April 5, President Duterte reportedly made the verbal order to abolish NFA’s policy-making body.
The President later asked NFA Administrator Jason Aquino to ignore the council and import rice to allay fears of the public on a possible rice shortage.
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