ZAMBOANGA CITY— Agriculture Sec. Emmanuel Piñol on Saturday led the opening of “Bigasang Bayan” to provide cheaper but good quality rice, as well as other farm products to the consuming public.
The opening came a day after Piñol declared that the local rice crisis is over with the arrival of additional supplies from nearby provinces, as well as from the National Food Authority (NFA).
Piñol said the rice sold at the center is of good quality since the variety of the staple has been imported by the government, through the NFA, from Thailand. A kilo is sold at PHP27.
Piñol said the opening of the center aims to increase the supply and to help lower the price of rice in this city. Hundreds of local residents immediately lined up to buy cheaper rice just as the Bigasang Bayan was opened.
However, Piñol clarified the price of commercial rice will not immediately be impacted by the additional supplies, noting that traders sell the grains based on capitalization and other production factors.
“It (arrival of rice stocks) will slowly bring down the price of rice (in this city),” he said.
Aside from rice, other agricultural products are being sold at the center. These included vegetables, root crops, and fruits.
Meanwhile, another shipment of 180,000 bags of NFA rice has arrived on Friday in this city from Thailand to further boost the local supply. Of the total, 80,000 bags have been allotted to this city while 90,000 for the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
The remaining 10,000 bags will serve as buffer stocks to be used in cases of emergency by the social welfare department and other concerned government agencies.
The Bigasang Bayan is located at the compound of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), along Corcuera Street – at the back of City Hall. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr/PNA)
