By Aaron B. Recuenco Liberal Party stalwart Mar Roxas has offered unsolicited advice to President Duterte on how to alleviate the rice supply problem in the country. (MANILA BULLETIN) In an open letter to the President, posted on his official Facebook page, Roxas started with how the devastation of typhoon “Ompong” would impact further the price of rice as well as the market. Roxas then laid down the main reason why there is a need to do away with political differences at this point in order to better handle the looming situation. “Dear President Duterte: Matindi ang problema ng P50+/kg (kilogram) na bigas, at magiging mas matindi pa ito dahil sa damage ni Ompong (There is a big problem in the 50+/kilogram price of rice, and this will worsen because of the damage wrought by Ompong),” said Roxas. “Magkaiba paningin natin sa maraming bagay pero sa tingin ko lahat ng Pilipino gustong malutas ang problemang ito. Kaya time out muna (We have differing views on a wide range of matters but I think all Filipinos want to solve this particular problem. So, let’s have a timeout),” he added. He said that only “a massive and immediate additional supply of rice can bring down prices to affordable level.” 3-step solution He then went on to suggest three main courses of actions on how to effectively increase the rice supply and eventually bring down the price to the normal level. The first thing to do, Roxas said, is to increase the Minimum Access Volume to 1.5 million metric tons. Secondly, there should be a removal of the requirements usually being imposed by the National Food Authority (NFA) in order to allow all in the private sector to import rice. And third move is a proactive one by asking popular food chains such as to independently source and import their own needs in order for the national stockpile to focus the supply on public markets, said Roxas. The same should also be done with large grocery and supermarket chains in order to ensure that the rice they would sell would not come from the national stockpile. “In the short term this will provide a definite physical buffer, put a definite timeframe for when supply tightness will end, and induce hoarders to release their stocks bago maiipit sila,” said Roxas. CCT for farmers In order to cushion the impact of the large rice importation, Roxas suggested that all farmers and their families should be included in the government’s CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer) program. “(On) Medium term, additional steps include: 1. Repeal TRAIN as it pertains to fuel and other basic commodities 2. Promote industrialized farming so we increase capital investment (capex, technology, economies of scale) in agriculture,” he said. Roxas lost to Duterte in the highly-polarized presidential elections in 2016 wherein he became the favorite punching bag of the President and his supporters, especially in the social media. The social media, and how the camp of Duterte was reportedly able to use them for their benefits, have contributed to a landslide victory of the President, according to some communication and political analysts. As of late Tuesday afternoon, the post drew almost 6,000 reactions and had more than 1,200 thousand shares and almost a thousand comments.