“This is actually one time when the government led by the Department of Agriculture under Secretary Arthur Yap, did its job well and with great transparency.”
by Ducky Paredes
The easiest thing to do is to accuse the present government of anything and most of us will instantly believe the accusation. The government’s credibility has become that bad.
But, the recent accusation by opposition politicians that the rice importation in December from Hanoi was overpriced by as much as 40 percent is simply not true. For one, the argument begins with the wrong fact – that the prevailing price at the time as $380 per ton. There was no $380 rice price anywhere in the world at that time.
Also, the Reuters story that was part of the basis of the accusation has been denied by the person interviewed by Reuters for their story, Reuters had Pablito Villegas saying that there was “more than meets the eye” in the transaction. This has been denied by Vilegas who says: “In fact, I defended Mr. (Arthur) Yap’s position saying that the premium price may be attributable to premium quality or to a hedging decision in a futures market.”
What was the deal all about? This was a government-to-government transaction between Hanoi and Manila. On the Philippine side, it had the Private Sector Procurement Transparency Group (PSPTG) monitoring, actively participating and approving the deal. This private sector group was headed by the representative of the Bishops-Businessmen’s conference (BBC).
The Philippines bought 1.5 million metric tons of rice from Vietnam. The prevailing price in December 2008 was from $456 to $459 pert metric ton. The Philippines negotiated for a total price of $549.50, which included freight, bid and performance bonds, surveyor’s fees, other incidentals, and cost of money. Vietnam would be paid not in cash but on a deferred credit basis over six to eight months. The $549.50 was the average price for 645.50 for 5% brokens; $595.50 for 15% brokens and $535.50 for 25% brokens.
The deal actually saved the Philippines as much as $7.54 million (P369 million) since Vietnam started delivery only in February 2009 when the price was already much higher – $ 656.15 for 5% brokens, $602.86fr 15% brokens and $ 539.11 for 25% brokens based on the prevailing price plus freight and the other incidentals.
While the accusation is that the price at the time was $380, one has to wonder where the politicos are getting this figure. World market prices at that time were at $456 to $459. Of course, if there was a $380 price at that time, the negotiated price with Vietnam had to be an overprice; but, there was none.
Former Agriculture Secretary Salvador “Sonny” Escudero observes that there are a lot of intricacies in rice importation. Thus, one cannot rely on prices quoted on the Internet or by independent sources without taking into account the added costs involved in the transaction.
In fact, Secretary Arthur Yap mad sure that everything was on the up-and-up. Besides the PSPTG, there was also a Cabinet Rice Procurement Committee where representatives of the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Finance (DoF) and the Department of Agriculture were involved.
Lawyer Paterno Menson who was the representative of the BBC in the PSPTG noted that the deal was thoroughly transparent and that the government took “extraordinary caution” to ensure that everything was aboveboard. Menson also points out that for the first time, the private sector actually involved itself in the negotiations for the rice importation unlike before when the private sector only looked on as witnesses to the transaction without being actually involved.
This is actually one time when y\the government led by the Department of Agriculture under Secretary Arthur Yap, did its job well and with great transparency. This time, the government wrote itself a good deal and did everything it was supposed to do; no short cuts and no overpricing.
Why pick on the DA on this transaction where everything apparently was done by the book?
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On Friday, 17 July 2009, there will be a launch of the 100-page book, “The Will To Change: Marikina and Its Innovations,” written by Dr. Rufo Mendoza, Anna Felicia Sanchez and Carl Javier, edited by Dr. Dennis Gonzalez, and published by the Ateneo School of Government, with the support of Sen. Kiko Pangilinan and the Marikina City government.
The launch will take place at the Ayala Museum, 6:00 pm.
The book chronicles the flow of change from a decaying municipality to a flourishing city. We see how the political will to resurrect the Marikina River, for instance, changed the perspective of the populace to the possibility of having a clean and green city, a locale that is thriving and in the pink of health.
The foreword by Dean Antonio La Viña says: “The Ateneo School of Government, as the Graduate School of Leadership and Public Service of the Ateneo de Manila University, is committed to creating a mosaic of good governance that connects leaders and communities all over the Philippines, linking islands of good governance, so that reforms are scaled up to build a prosperous and just nation. We are contributing to nation building, to the transformation of locales and communities, through our educational, research, and leadership programs.
“The School undertakes the production and dissemination of readable and accessible instructional materials and publications on innovations in local governance and public management. We expect that those who exercise, and those who plan to exercise, transformational and not merely transactional leadership in their locales and organizations will find this book relevant and helpful.”
A large part of the presidential campaign of MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando are precisely the innovations that he began in Marikina during is time as Mayor that changed not only the physical town, these innovations also changed the way that Marikina residents regarded themselves and their city.
Would that the whole Philippines could change for the better as Marikina did.
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hvp 07.15.09)
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