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The Philippine government on Monday declared an
upcoming rice tender a failure because of the lack of legitimate
bidders.
At Malacañang, the government
said it could issue within two weeks rice access cards to 300,000
poor families identified by the Department of Social Welfare and
Development.
The National Food Authority (NFA)
planned to buy 675,000 metric tons of foreign rice in an early May
tender. NFA Deputy Administrator Ludovico Jarina told reporters that
there was only one bidder, Vietnam’s state-owned Vinafood II, but
their bid was rejected as the firm failed to meet the tender
requirements, such as a bank guarantee.
“We will wait for softer prices
before scheduling another tender,” Jarina said.
The Philippines has become the
world’s top rice importer for the year as the government
previously announced plans to import up to 2.6 million metric tons.
It has secured almost 1.7 tons
from Thailand and Vietnam in previous four tenders in the past five
months.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap
said the Philippines, which has a 10-percent domestic production
shortfall on rice, had bought enough stocks for the year.
Rice access cards recipients
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye
said 300,000 rice access cards will initially be issued to poor
families.
“We are processing around
one-third of the 700,000 families in Metro Manila and the access
cards could be released within two weeks,” Bunye said.
Last month, President Gloria
Arroyo ordered the Social Welfare department to identify the 700,000
poorest families in Metro Manila and make them the priority
recipients of cheap NFA rice.
Once those poor families are
identified, the food agency will directly delivery to their homes
the cheap government rice, Deputy Press Secretary Anthony Golez
said.
The President also ordered the
pullout of NFA rice from public markets to prevent well-off families
from buying, and to discourage household hoarding.
The President urged the public
not to panic over the rice situation, saying the Philippines has a
secure supply of rice from local and foreign sources, even if some
countries in Southeast Asia are planning to establish a price-fixing
cartel for the grains.
OREC formation
The countries pushing for the
formation of the Organization of Rice- Exporting Countries (OREC)
claim the setting of a common price for rice exports will also
benefit nations that import the staple, and the farmers that produce
the supply surplus. OREC is being pushed by Thailand, Cambodia,
Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen
had repeatedly raised the concept of OREC and emphasized its
benefits, just before Thailand made a similar initiative at the end
of last month.
In addition, he said, a common
price will help dissolve the chaos on the world’s rice market and
thus secure the uttermost benefits for all.
“It is high time to establish
such an organization,” he added.
The Association of Southeast
Asian Nations countries, which include the OREC countries, agreed
for cooperation to stabilize the price of rice during a meeting in
Indonesia on Sunday.
But on the same day, Asia
Development Bank officials in Spain clearly opposed establishment of
OREC, citing that it contradicted the free spirit of market economy
and would bring about disadvantages to both sellers and purchasers.
--Angelo S. Samonte and Xinhua
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