RP eyeing alternative rice procurement methods

MANILA, Philippines- The government is looking for alternative modes to procure rice, the country’s staple food, following an announcement from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that Manila will no longer hold biddings for the grain. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the country’s procurement law, Republic Act 9184, allows for the government to look for alternative modes besides bidding. “You can say that procurement of rice from Vietnam and other requesting countries can now be done (through) alternative modes of procurement under RA 9184 and as cleared with the government policy procurement board," he said. Yap noted that traders have complained about the latest requirement of grain-importing agency National Food Authority for them to secure sovereign guarantees to participate in its bidding. On Monday only one trader participated in Manila’s bidding for 675,000 metric tons of rice. While the lone participant, who was from Vietnam, was able to secure a sovereign guarantee, it would have also been disqualified for failing to secure a bank guarantee. “[The governments of Thailand and Vietnam] don’t want to give sovereign guarantees, they want to negotiate not under an open public tender because it tends to shore up prices," Yap added. Despite the government’s move to drop bidding for rice, Yap noted that the Philippines has already contracted 1.2 million metric tons of rice from its previous procurements. “We’re comfortable, we have enough supply. We have already contracted 1.2 million metric tons and this [additional volumes] is for buffer stocks," he added. The National Food Authority, meanwhile, sees nothing wrong with the President’s decision to stop holding bidding for rice, even if Thomas Escarez, NFA spokesman, said the agency has yet to be formally informed about the President’s declaration. “We haven’t receive official instruction from the President yet regarding the same…However, if this will facilitate sourcing of additional rice for our buffer and food security requirements, that would be a welcome development," he said. But Escarez reiterated that the NFA will still wait for a formal instruction from the President about the scrapping of the bidding. The NFA is targeting to import some 2.1 million metric tons of grain this year, to fill up the 10-percent gap from local production to feed the Philippines’ 90.7 million population. - GMANews.TV