HINDI binili ni Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, ang co-chair ng Murang Pagkain Supercommittee ng Kamara de Representantes na nagpe-preside sa mga pagdinig ng quinta committee, ang sinabi ng Department of Agriculture (DA) na wala itong kapangyarihan upang kontrolin ang presyo ng bigas.

“The DA’s perennial retort that they are powerless to stop abuse in the rice market will no longer do. It gives license to price manipulators to run amok and prey on the Filipino family,” ani Salceda.

“Rice prices have become something of a death spiral. And with the DA publicly saying they are powerless under the law, price manipulators are even more emboldened to do as they please,” saad pa ng solon.

Ayon kay Salceda, nirepaso ng komite ang mga batas at lumabas na hindi totoo na walang magagawa ang DA upang kontrolin ang presyo ng bigas.

“We have reviewed the statute books for what tools the DA can use to end rice price abuse. We found several laws that have not been fully repealed, including RA 509, which would allow the DA a wide range of powers as soon as the President declares a ‘rice emergency’,” wika pa nito.

Sinabi in Salceda na ginawa ito ni dating Pangulong Elpidio Quirino noong 1948 bilang tugon sa malawakang hoarding ng bigas.

“I urge the DA to scour the substantial body of laws enacted over the decades and mobilize these laws to end the climate of economic impunity in the rice market,” saad ng solon.

“We must also use all the organs and powers of the state, from post-clearance inspections of import warehouses, to random inspections in markets, to remove the sense that there is no sheriff in town,” dagdag pa ni Salceda.