MORE NEWS, ABRA

Abra mayor orders freeze on rice sale
By Marites Benas

LA PAZ, Abra –The town mayor here ordered farmers to put on hold the sale of their palay produce as well as clean rice even as the rice crisis in the national level is still unresolved.

Mayor Sto. Niño "JB" Bernos issued the order according to the president of the Municipal Agriculture and Fisheries Council of La Paz Luis Valdez in reaction to rice shortage as played up in the National Capital Region.

This is also a measure issued to mitigate possible price manipulations of rice in Abra and to ensure a stable supply of rice in the locality, the mayor said.

Tagged as one of Abra's rice granaries, La Paz is one of two major rice producing municipalities with Manabo.

This is because La Paz has vast areas of valleys and plains suitable for palay production situated along the Abra River basin.

As of this writing, the price of palay in La Paz remains at P14.00 per kilo. Following the directive of Bernos they would like to maintain their supply despite the high price of clean rice in the local market which is now P85.00 per ganta or P33.00 per kilogram.

Meanwhile, Valdez said, they maintain their production of other cash crops such as garlic especially during their second cropping season. But despite this, they still maintain their existing volume of palay production.