By Erwin Nicavera/PNA
BACOLOD CITY — The 100,000 bags of rice from Thailand imported by the National Food Authority (NFA) for Negros Occidental are being unloaded at the BREDCO port here.
Assistant manager of NFA-Negros Occidental, Marianita Gellecanao, said as of Monday afternoon, more than 19,000 bags were already unloaded and stored in the two warehouses in Bacolod.
She added that without disturbances like bad weather, the unloading can be completed by December 5.
The additional import allocation for the province, which arrived in the city on Nov. 23 via MV Inlaco Express, is the second for Negros Occidental this year. The first importation of 80,000 bags from Thailand arrived in July.
Gellecanao said part of the unloaded rice this week was transported to warehouses in Ilog town and San Carlos City.
The 100,000 bags for Negros Occidental are part of the 600,000 bags shipped by MV Inclaro Express to the Philippines.
Gellecanao said with the additional import allocation, NFA-Negros Occidental can start increasing the distribution to 20 to 50 bags per retail outlet among major and non-traditional markets.
In the previous months when stocks were limited, the distribution was calibrated to only five to 10 bags. “Our distribution will be back to normal starting next week,” Gellecanao said.
In the first week of July, NFA-Negros Occidental borrowed 10,000 bags of rice from Iloilo while waiting for the arrival of its imported rice allocation.
Also in the last week of September, it sought augmentation supply from Iloilo, which was then unloading its 170,000 bags of imported rice allocation from Thailand.
