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[av_heading heading=’Iloilo rice sellers see price hikes amid NFA ‘shortage’’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’18’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
By: Abeguen B. Gelito, Intern
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Friday, March 2, 2018
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ILOILO City – Local outlet sellers of National Food Authority (NFA) rice are beginning to feel the impact of the national shortage of the government-regulated supply, as non-NFA merchants see a spike in the prices of local rice.
Catalino Gabito, a 77-year old rice vendor and an outlet seller of NFA rice at the Iloilo Central Market, told Panay News that they have a very limited supply of (NFA) rice – allotted only five sacks of NFA rice due to a shortage in the national supply.
“Sila wala bugas to, wala unod ang bodega. Te amu na gin-limit nila nga lima lang ka sako ang makuha namon nga mga retailers,” Gabito related, adding that they’re experiencing a difficulty in finding a sustainable way of transporting only five sacks of rice to and from the NFA warehouse. The rice seller explains that they’ll be operating at a loss if they transport just the five sacks themselves, due to the higher prices of petroleum products under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
The NFA sells regular-milled rice (RMR) at P27/kilogram and well-milled rice (WMR) at P32/kg as part of its food security and stabilization functions. NFA-Iloilo has limited the NFA rice supply to five sacks per market retailer as it is rationing amid the national shortage.
Due to the limited supply, Gabito has decided to sell non-NFA supplied rice at her store. She sells non-NFA RMR at P38 per kilo, Dinorado rice at P60/kilo, Tapol rice also at P60/kilo, and Sinandomeng at P46/kilo.
Similarly, another rice seller at the Iloilo Central Market – who refused to be named – told Panay News that he’s had to resort to selling more non-NFA rice because of the five-sack limit. He now sells rice from local traders which cost higher than the government-regulated NFA rice.
“Local nga bugas ang taas presyo subong kay tungod bal-an nila nga wala NFA,” he said, confirming that the NFA rice shortage has led to a gradual increase in the prices of other rice varieties from local sources.
Non-NFA outlet rice seller Christine Agnes, 20, said that the prices of rice has been rising since last month. They sell Sinandomeng rice which has ballooned from P43/kg to P46/kg, with other WMR varieties going up at least P2 per kilogram.
According to NFA administrator Jason Aquino, as early as November 2017, there was already a discussion on the request of the NFA to import additional 350,000 metric tons of rice.
At the time, the buffer stock was only good for six days, after 250,000 metric tons of imported rice arrived in October 2017. The approval of the request, however, was deferred by the NFA Council.
The NFA is required to have at least 15-day buffer stock at any given time and 30-day buffer stock during lean seasons, which is usually from July to September.
In December 2017, when the buffer stock was only good for four days, the NFA Council approved the standby authority to import 250,000 metric tons of rice, but subject to their assessment.
In January 2018, when buffer stock was good for three days, the discussion on the request to import additional 350,000 metric tons of rice was included for approval in the agenda of the NFA Council’s meeting, but it was deferred.
It was also at this time that President Rodrigo Duterte approved the importation of 250,000 metric tons of rice as requested by the NFA.
Following Duterte’s directive, the NFA Council this month approved the activation of the stand-by authority for the importation of the 250,000 metric tons of rice, but it is set for arrival in June 2018. (With a report from ABS-CBN News/PN)
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