George Orwell would have a grand time chronicling Mr. Aquino

VIETNAM’S rice prices surged last month from an eight year-low recorded in August. The price surge came from, you guessed it right, jumbo orders from the Philippines. The National Food Authority (NFA) ordered an initial round of 750,000 metric tons and said that it might import more. From an eight year-low the price of Vietnamese rice (five percent broken) climbed to $360 per metric ton.

Plus the smuggled rice, from sources other than Vietnam and Thailand, it is safe to say that more than 2 million metric tons of rice have been entering the country – legally and otherwise - to fill a huge supply gap each year for the past few years.