Few local gov’ts buying NFA rice
The National Food Authority (NFA) on Tuesday appealed to the consuming public to urge their local government units (LGUs) to buy the rice stocks offered by the agency at a “cheaper” price of P29 to P33 a kilo.
At a press briefing in Malacañang, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said citizens can press their LGUs to buy the agency’s rice to help it decongest its warehouses and make room for fresh rice stocks from the upcoming harvest season.
“I am also encouraging our countrymen that if they want to avail [themselves] of the P33 and P29, they must encourage their local government executives to participate in the food security emergency program or declaration of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to declog our warehouses,” Lacson added.
The official made the appeal as he admitted the dismal reception by LGUs of the NFA rice offered for sale by the national government under the prevailing national food security emergency.
Under Republic Act No. 12078, an amendment to the rice tariffication law, the DA secretary is empowered to declare a food security emergency when there is an “extraordinary increase” in rice prices or supply shortages.
Only 12,900 bags so far
This allows the government to implement several measures to stabilize rice prices and ensure availability, which includes the release of NFA rice stocks at cheaper prices to LGUs, government agencies, and the state-run Kadiwa outlets.
Since the DA declared the national food security emergency last Feb. 3, the NFA has so far disposed very little of its rice, Lacson lamented.
“There were a lot of orders [from LGUs], which only means that they haven’t withdrawn yet. The reality is only 20,000 bags [were withdrawn from the NFA warehouses],” he said.
Data provided by the NFA to the Inquirer showed that LGUs have bought only 12,900 bags of rice as of Monday.
Among the LGUs, Cotabato accounted for 5,000 bags, followed by Camarines Sur with 3,050 bags and Isabela with 1,800 bags.
In Metro Manila, only two cities have procured bags of rice from the agency: San Juan City with 1,200 bags and Navotas City with 1,000 bags.
Meanwhile, other areas in the country bought NFA rice stocks in very small quantities: Palayan City in Nueva Ecija province and Zamboanga City with 300 bags each and Mati City with 250 bags.
NFA price not competitive
Lacson said one reason for the slow withdrawal by LGUs could be the processing of clearance from the Commission on Elections and the resolution from the local councils authorizing the purchases.
With the slow withdrawal and the continued inflow of rice being bought by the agency, Lacson said NFA warehouses are now experiencing congestion, with 36 percent of storage space in high palay-producing regions almost full.
According to Lacson, the NFA still needs more storage space as it completes the repairs on 136 warehouses and the construction of 36 others.
“So, we want to push those LGUs because [they] were lukewarm to withdraw from our stocks, [and] the additional funding from the rice sales will help us a lot,” he said.
However, agricultural groups Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) and Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) pointed out that the NFA’s selling price is not competitive compared with prevailing prices of freshly harvested and milled rice, prompting LGUs to prefer buying better quality rice given their limited budget.
“Many LGUs probably have no budget for this, or do not see the need, or prefer to buy from private sellers,” FFF national manager Raul Montemayor told the Inquirer in a Viber message.
Why buy aging stocks?
Sinag executive director Jayson Cainglet said many LGUs would choose to buy freshly harvested and milled rice over the NFA’s rice stocks if their selling prices are almost the same.
“If I were an LGU, why would I buy aging stocks from the NFA with lower quality compared to freshly harvested and milled rice, especially if their prices are the same?” Cainglet told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
Citing the group’s data, Cainglet said the wholesale price of freshly milled rice ranges from P32 to P33 a kilo, close to the NFA’s selling price of P33 for its rice stocks.
Despite the slow purchases, the DA has increased the number of bags of rice for sale under the food security emergency to 1.35 million from the initial 625,600 when the declaration was made in February.
“We have ample funding to be used to buy because we have used up only P2.6 billion of the P9 billion [budget], including some leftover funds from last year,” Lacson said.
