The NFA does not just import rice for the heck of it

One of the key highlights of President Benigno "P-Noy" Aquino III's State of the Nation Address (SONA) was how the National Food Authority (NFA) "over-imported" rice. Supposedly this resulted in tonnes and tonnes of it rotting in their warehouses while impoverished Filipinos starved. Not so fast, according to former Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who reminded the President that...

any amount of rice to be imported was not determined by one person alone but by an inter-agency council, with representatives from the National Economic and Development Authority, the Trade Department, the NFA and even the weather bureau.

Their recommendations took into account factors including local production, consumption trends and the total population, Yap said. When the council agreed on a figure, that number was reviewed by the NFA Council, which included representatives from the central bank and the Finance Department.

... and as such ...

“The decision to import is not the decision of the President or the Agriculture secretary alone. It is a collegial body that makes the decision,” Yap said.

I wonder what exactly is going on within P-Noy's inner circle. He seems be chronically ill-advised.