Villar: Senate wants cartel, hoarding classified as economic sabotage

Senator Cynthia Villar on Wednesday said the Senate will pass this September an amendment to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act to classify cartels and hoarding as acts of economic sabotage.

Interviewed on GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita, Villar said perpetrators behind cartels and hoarding have yet to be held accountable because of the defects in the implementation of the law.

“Kaya kami ngayong buwan magpapasa kami ng tinatawag na amendment to the anti-smuggling which includes cartel and hoarding as economic sabotage and non-bailable,” she said.

(That is why this month we will pass an amendment to the Anti-Smuggling Law which includes cartel and hoarding as economic sabotage and non-bailable.)

Villar, chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said that an anti-smuggling and cartel court will also be established.

She said cartels and hoarding caused the high prices of rice.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos recently ordered a price ceiling on rice to address the surge in retail prices in local markets.

Executive Order 39 provided that the mandated price ceiling for regular milled rice is P41 per kilo while the mandated price cap for well-milled rice is P45 per kilo. It took effect on Tuesday.

Rice retailers expressed fear that they would be forced to close their stores due to their losses with the implementation of the price ceiling.

For Villar, retailers can still profit amid the implementation of the price ceiling.

“Tingin ko naman walang choice ang gobyerno kasi wala namang shortage ng rice at ito ay gawa-gawa lang ng cartel at hoarding. Kaya maigi na ring mag-price cap at ang price cap naman ay rasonable. Kikita pa rin ang lahat sa P41-P45 per kilo,” she said.

(I think the government has no choice because there is no shortage in rice and this is only created by cartel and hoarding. It is good to impose a price cap which is reasonable. Retailers will still profit with P41-P45 per kilo.)

“Ang range is P8 to P13 per kilo ang cost (ng palay). Dapat bibilhin 'yan ng NFA ng P19 per kilo at times two, that's P38. So may tubo pa sila sa P41 to P45. Kaya hindi naman puwede na sasabihin nila na binili ng mahal, wala namang bumili nang ganun kamahal e,” she added.

(The range of the cost for palay is around P8 to P13 per kilo. The NFA should buy that P19 per kilo and multiply that by two, that’s P38. So there is still a profit with P41-P45 price cap. So they cannot say they bought the rice supply at a high price because no one buys it at a price that is so high.)

Earlier, AMIHAN National Federation of Peasant Women called for the suspension of the Rice Tariffication law which lifted import limits on rice.

It also pushed for the reinstatement of the mandate of the National Food Authority (NFA) to buy a significant volume of rice directly from farmers to strengthen local production.

Villar noted that the rice tariffication collects almost P20 billion a year. Of the total collection, P10 billion will be allotted for farmers’ seeds and mechanization.

She added that the power to import had been removed from the NFA due to its alleged connivance with cartels.—Joviland Rita/AOL, GMA Integrated News