DAVAO CITY — Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio over the weekend said Davao City is poised to step up monitoring of the prices non-NFA rice in the market amid the depleted rice buffer stock of the National Food Authority (NFA) in the region.
This move came after the mayor received information from the NFA 11 that rice buffer stock for Davao Region is at zero-volume situation which is expected to be replenished in June.
Mayor Sara said the city government through its City Agriculturist Office is working closely with NFA and the Department of Agriculture so that the region would be included in areas appropriately supplied with NFA rice.
“While waiting, we are closely monitoring non-NFA rice to ensure supply and that rice retail prices are right and within what’s mandated by law,” Duterte-Carpio said in a press statement.
Duterte-Carpio said NFA and the NFA Council are the offices that study the country’s rice situation and they are tasked to come up with appropriate actions to address supply and availability of rice for the Filipinos.
The NFA Council, which is chaired by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr, is a policy-making body composed of representatives from government agencies, financial institutions, representatives from private sector and the farmers. It was created under Presidential Decree No. 1770 to ensure food security and stabilize supply and prices of cereals.
In the past two weeks, NFA rice retailers have voiced concerns over the depleting supply of NFA rice in the markets.
This even prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to meet rice traders last week and committed to give at least 700,000 sacks of rice to replenish the NFA stocks sold at PHP38 per kilo to be sold at PHP39 per kilo.
On Friday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement that the President expressed his intent to place the NFA under the Office of the President.
He said the President is also considering the approval of rice importation to be centralized under the Office of DA Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat “subject to the review of the Office of the Executive Secretary”. (Lilian Mellejor/PNA)
