MORE NEWS, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE

No rice shortage in MP,says NFA

BONTOC, Mountain Province - There is no rice shortage and rice panic buying in Mountain Province.

This was the answer of National Food Authority provincial office economist Elimar C. Regindin when asked on the rice situation in the province amid reports of rice shortage in some part of the country.

Regindin said that though the province has low rice production, the province will not suffer from rice shortage because there is a continuous supply of NFA and commercial rice coming from the rice-producing provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela.

For April, the NFA rice allocation for the province is 17,500 sacks of which 5,200 sacks are being distributed to the different accredited retailers such as the 15 Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke established in public places and the 85 Tindahan Natin outlet located in remote barangays.

The remaining 12,280 sacks are set aside for the Department of Education’s Food for school Program and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Food for the Poor Program.

Regindin said in case there is a need for more government rice in remote barangays, the NFA will mobilize its rolling stores to sell government rice directly to end consumers.

He said rice panic buying in some parts of the country is due to the sudden price increase of commercial rice ranging from P32 to P40 a kilo which is higher than NFA rice that costs 18.25 per kilo. -- Frenzylle Bag-ayan and Razil Ann Baclili