MORE NEWS, ILOCOS SUR

NFA to supply 400,000 bags of rice in Ilocos, Cordillera
By Freddie Lazaro

VIGAN CITY -- The National Food Authority office in Region 1 will distribute additional 400,000 bags of rice this August to its various outlets in four Ilocos and two Cordillera provinces. The distribution of the additional supply is intended to keep the momentum of the agency in providing adequate cheap government rice to consumers.

As of July 25, 2008, reports reaching the Philippine Information Agency office here showed that the NFA Region 1 office had already distributed 301,444 bags of rice to the 1,173 retail outlets.

The two grades of NFA rice are sold to consumers at P18.25 per kilo and at P25 per kilo.

NFA Region 1 Director Joseph Y. dela Cruz said the volume of distributed rice is 75.36 percent of its target of 400,000 bags for July.

The NFA Region 1 Office based in San Fernando City, La Union supply cheap rice to the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Abra, and Mt. Province.

"As it intensifies its rice distribution in the markets, NFA pulls down the prices of commercial rice from R36 per kilo to R32 per kilo in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions even as we predicted that commercial rice prices would soar during the lean period from July to September," he said.

He said that while the NFA floods the market with cheap government rice, the long line of consumers buying rice disappears, as commercial rice is already abundant in the market.

"Consumers saw radical price reduction in prices of commercial rice as NFA started to saturate all markets with sufficient supply of rice to all its outlets where several months ago, consumers were queuing when tight rice supply was felt and quantity sold was limited to three kilos per consumer," he said.

"Today, NFA outlets are selling five kilos per consumer and allocation of NFA rice have been doubled or tripled, causing the abatement of escalating prices," he added.