A RECENT survey showed that people believe there is a rice shortage even in Iloilo City, which is not supposed to be so, considering that Iloilo and the whole of Panay are net rice-producing areas with a total produce said to be capable of feeding even the whole of Visayas.

In fact, a friend in the city told us last week that he was buying a sack of rice instead of just a few kilos enough for a week’s use of his family as he used to do. If everybody does that, I could imagine that before some of us could recover from a really banging hangover – sometimes it takes a week to recover from it – the prices of rice would have already gone up so high because of a sudden drop in the supply. And they might just wish to forget it in another drinking party.

Of course, that would be unthinking of them, as they could use the money they are paying for their drinks to instead buy a few gantas of rice which their families need to survive another day or a few days ahead.

But then that’s how foolish some of us could get. We try to drown our problems in intoxicating liquor, only to realize that the problem would just resurrect once the sharp taste leaves our tongues and brush aside the clouds in our minds.

Well, this is a free country and no law prevents anyone from even jumping off a cliff. The government, however, should not just watch its constituency from falling off. It should be there ready with the catchnet to cushion the impact of the foolhardiness of some of its constituents.

One such catchnet is government vigilance over the buying activities in the markets. Should there be any sign that panic buying is starting to creep in, government should step in and try to control the unwarranted buying of rice to protect the citizenry, as a whole.

Government should also watch out for rice traders, especially those selling outside of Iloilo and the region, as a whole. Rice traders could take advantage of the real shortage in some parts of the country and the resulting higher prices of rice there and send out so much of the local stocks that could eventually also result to rice shortage here.

We understand that there is a regulation limiting the shipping out of rice stocks to no more than 300 sacks per shipment. But there could be a problem here, as rice traders could use dummies for subsequent shipments.

Because of this, we would like to urge government to list all legitimate traders here as a guide to check on every outgoing shipment of rice. If the shipment is by somebody not in the list, this would mean that the shipper could be just a dummy working for a registered shipper. Such a shipment should then be prohibited from going out and the shipper not in the list face an inquiry. When found to be just a dummy, he or she must face its undivided consequences under our laws.

One Response to “Government should be vigilant over rice trading”

• 1
  Ramon
  April 4th, 2008 19:52

  I am very concerned about cheap rice that is actually genetically modified. Does anyone know how to determine if your supply at the grocery is actually genetically engineered? This type of rice is banned in Europe for health risks… I don’t see why we should accept it here… rice shortage or not..I am definitely against it.

  Please share what you know about rice at our stores. I prefer to buy Iloilo grown rice..and I want the right to CHOOSE LOCAL and NON-GMO!

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