Legislators Agree That Rice Is Important, Expensive, and a Matter Requiring Further Study Before Any Recommendation Can Be Made
Six Hours of Senate Testimony Confirms That Rice Is Expensive and Something Should Be Done
The Senate Committee on Agriculture concluded its investigation into rising rice prices on Wednesday after a six-hour hearing that produced extensive testimony from eleven resource persons, four privilege speeches unrelated to rice but touching on matters of personal importance to the senators delivering them, and a committee recommendation that a further hearing be conducted to receive additional testimony from parties not present at the first hearing whose perspectives would be valuable in forming the basis for a recommendation that the committee could then make.
‘Rice is the staple of the Filipino people,’ said Committee Chairman Sen. Eduardo Ramos in his opening statement, which lasted forty minutes. ‘When rice is expensive, the Filipino people suffer. We are here today to determine the cause of this expense so that we may address it.’ Six hours later, Sen. Ramos confirmed that the causes identified during the hearing include supply chain issues, fuel costs, weather-related crop damage, importation policy, distribution inefficiencies, and ‘several other factors that require further investigation,’ which is the same list that appeared in the previous Senate hearing on rice prices in 2022, 2020, 2019, and 2017.
The Privilege Speeches
Sen. Maria Cristina Villanueva used her privilege speech to raise concerns about a road project in her province that is unrelated to rice. Sen. Rodrigo Pampanga used his privilege speech to thank constituents for their support during a recent public event. Sen. Flordeliza Manalo used her privilege speech to read a letter from a constituent about a rice issue that was, technically, rice-related but concerned a specific barangay level distribution problem whose resolution falls under the jurisdiction of the local government unit rather than the Senate. Sen. Bernardo Lacuesta used his privilege speech to announce that he has filed a Senate Resolution calling for a study of rice prices.
Current Rice Prices
Following the hearing, regular milled rice in Metro Manila markets continues to retail at prices between fifty-two and fifty-eight pesos per kilo, which represents an increase of approximately eighteen percent over the previous year and a level that Marikina housewife Carmela Reyes, fifty-one, described as ‘the reason I am now mixing more vegetables into the rice than I was mixing this time last year.’
Rice price data from Department of Agriculture. Comedy: NewsThump.
SOURCE: http://prat.UK