MANILA, Philippines — Restoring the National Food Authority’s (NFA) regulatory powers, including the authority to control prices and directly sell rice to consumers, could help reduce soaring rice prices, Malacañang said Monday.

In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Briefer Claire Castro said the NFA lost these powers under Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which limits the agency’s selling capacity to Kadiwa stores, Food Terminal Inc., and local government units.

“So iyon po ang hindi maganda sa provision na ito. Kaya noon pa po hinihiling ng administrasyon na magkaroon ng amendments sa RTL, patungkol po sa karapatan, authority, at power ng NFA,” Castro said.

According to her, several lawmakers have filed proposals to amend the RTL, and the administration supports these efforts in the hope of bringing down rice prices. However, Castro noted that the proposed amendments are being blocked by Sen. Cynthia Villar, the principal author and sponsor of the RTL.

“Actually, nagkaroon na ng proposal ang administration na bigyan ng sapat na kapangyarihan ang NFA na makapagbenta ng diretso sa taumbayan,” she said.

Castro argued that reinstating the NFA’s authority to sell directly to the public and regulate prices could have prevented the recent spike in rice prices. She blamed the RTL, which allows private companies to dominate rice imports, for the price surge.

“Gusto natin ipabatid, kapag nabigyan natin ng karapatan ang NFA na makapagbenta ng diretso sa taumbayan at makontrol ang presyo ng bigas, hindi po tataas ng ganito ang presyo,” she said.

Castro added that the government does not intend to allow the importation of high-priced rice, and emphasized that government-to-government procurement through the NFA would be more beneficial for consumers.

“Kung government sana, thru NFA, government-to-government, mas maganda po ang tsansa na mabigyan po tayo ng mas murang presyo para maibigay sa taumbayan,” she said.