SOME BUSINESSMEN are just so conscienceless. Give them a reason, even the slightest reason to speculate, like the recent reckless talks on rice shortage, and they would jack up the prices of their commodities without the least sympathetic thought for the buyers, many of whom could now hardly eat three times a day.

I was at a supermarket last Saturday to make my weekly purchases and I was shocked to learn that the price of rice I would always buy had gone up. From the previous week’s P29.40 a kilo to P33.40 a kilo! That’s an increase in price of over 13 percent!

What’s this Mr. DTI? I thought there is a law that prohibits the increase of prices of basic and prime commodities beyond 10 percent and in no shorter time than one month after the last price.

I hope our good friend, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-Iloilo) Director, Dads Cadena, can look into this and do something to protect the consumers under the Price Act and the Price Tag Law. A check of all supermarkets and grocery stores should bare this pricing irregularity in at least one of them. Start checking on the prices of basic and prime commodities in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

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I disagree with the national government’s move to meantime stop the issuance of NFA rice to accredited retailers after finding out that some of the NFA rice, which sells at only P18.50 per kilo, are being mixed with commercial rice, that sells up to P30 per kilo in the wet market, which is then sold to the public as pure commercial rice.

This would deepen the public scare over reckless reports that there is not enough rice to meet public demand from now through the coming lean months of June, July and August and would further shoot up the prices of this staple commodity.

What should be done instead is to run after these cheating rice retailers and throw them into jail where they deserve to be.

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Actually, rice shortage, except for a few years in our history, always happens during the lean months until the next harvest in September.

But that should not be taken at face value. Yes, there is that rice shortage practically every year of our lives in this country. But government has always done something to save the day for the majority poor of this country by importing the staple food from rice-exporting countries like Vietnam and Thailand in Asia.

The national government has recently closed an importation deal with the Vietnam government for 2.2 million tons of rice, the first batch of which is expected early next month.

I understand it is for the usual cheap price that we used to get from Vietnam or Thailand. Assuming, however, that price of imported rice may be a little costlier, let us not undermine the ability of our government to still keep the prices of NFA rice at an affordable level for our poor populace. Our experience shows that government could even sell at a loss just to help the poor with the staple food.

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