By Brian Campued
The National Food Authority (NFA) on Friday assured that its warehouses across the country still have enough space for the storage of additional rice buffer stocks, especially during the harvest season.
“May sapat pang space, medyo malaki pa ito—kaya pa itong tumanggap ng, sa tantiya ko, nasa 80,000 to 100,000 [sako] pa itong…espasyo dito,” Rodolfo Robinas, supervisor of the NFA’s warehouse in Valenzuela City, said in an interview with People’s Television Network.
According to Robinas, even if their warehouse already receives a steady supply of rice from Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon, the NFA can still procure more sacks of rice for storage.
“Marami pong na-procure last year na bigas. Ngayon, ongoing pa rin ’yong procurement ng bigas. Ngayong start po ng harvest season at ongoing po ’yong procurement namin sa other provinces,” he said.
The warehouse in Valenzuela regularly releases bags of rice to be sold at a lower price in various “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” outlets in Metro Manila as well as in Pangasinan and Aurora through the Food Terminal, Inc. (FTI).
“Regular pong nagwi-withdraw po ’yong Kadiwa sa amin dito. Weekly po, 500-800 bags a week ang nawi-withdraw ng Kadiwa sa amin,” Robinas said.
In a statement Tuesday, the NFA reported that it has built up a buffer stock equivalent to 7.17 million 50-kilogram bags of milled rice—its highest inventory level since the end of 2020.
Administrator Larry Lacson assured that the NFA continues to upgrade its storage infrastructure, including warehouses and handling facilities, to accommodate a higher rice stockpile.
As of April 11, the NFA held 1.1 million bags of newly milled rice and rice that fall into the “aging stock” category—enough to support the selling of affordable rice to most disadvantaged Filipinos.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Thursday defended the quality of rice from the NFA following Vice President Sara Duterte’s remarks calling it “animal feed”.
The government is set to roll out the selling of rice at P20 per kilo in Visayas next week, wherein each household is allowed to purchase up to 40 kg of rice weekly.
“I speak on behalf of the DA Family: ’Yong mga kasama ko rito medyo na-disappoint din talaga sa statement na ‘panghayop’ ’yong ibebenta naming bigas na P20,” Laurel said.
“Kinakain po namin ’yan araw-araw sa Department of Agriculture to ensure. Ako mismo, araw-araw ay tumitikim ako ng bigas at lahat kami rito ’yan ang kinakain namin galing sa NFA,” the DA chief added. (with report from Vel Custodio / PTV News)
-iro
