ILOILO – There is enough supply of rice in this province and Iloilo City, according to the National Food Authority (NFA), despite the enhanced community quarantine encouraging people, including farmers, to stay home.
As of the April 1 inventory, there were still 3.1 million bags of rice at NFA warehouses, households and markets in Iloilo city and province, and the island province of Guimaras, said NFA-Iloilo manager Jose Pacificador.
NFA-Iloilo warehouses are in the municipalities of San Donisio, Pototan, Dueñas, and Dumangas, and at its main office (NFA regional office) in Barangay Quintin Salas, Jaro, Iloilo City.
“These 3.1 million bags of rice are good for some five months or 155 days,” said Pacificador, “just in time for the first cropping between August and September.”
In this time of enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease, Pacificador said NFA-Iloilo’s priority clients are local government units (LGUs), including those of Guimaras, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office (DSWD) Region 6.
LGUs and DSWD are frontliners in the government’s COVID-19 response and they have direct contact with people who need assistance, Pacificador explained.
Rice is among the items in the food packs that LGUs and DSWD distribute to people adversely affected by the quarantine.
Pacificador said the following LGUs have so far been released with NFA rice: Alimodian, Barotac Nuevo, Banate, Calinog, Dingle, Dumangas, Janiuay, Lambunao, Maasin, Mina, Oton, Sara, Santa Barbara, Tigbauan, and Tubungan, and Jordan in Guimaras.
The Iloilo City government, on the other hand, procured 18,000 bags of NFA rice, said Pacificador.
Meanwhile, Pacificador warned retailers in Iloilo and Guimaras against jacking up rice prices.
“Wala sang rason nga magpataas presyo sang bugas kay puerte kadamo sang bugas,” he stressed.
Pacificador assured consumers, too, that NFA rice is clean and does not smell bad.
NFA rice are produced by local farmers themselves and bought by the grains agency, he reminded consumers.
Last year NFA-Iloilo bought a total of 1.1 million bags of rice from farmers at P19 per kilo, said Pacificador. These were:
* September – 250,554 bags
* October – 386,833 bags
* November – 345,145 bags
* December – 146,133 bags
This 2020, NFA-Iloilo plans to buy a million bags of palay, said Pacificador./PN