San Juan, Camarines Sur among first recipients of NFA rice

Metro Manila, Philippines - The local governments of San Juan City and Camarines Sur were the first recipients of National Food Authority (NFA) rice stocks under the food security emergency declaration.

Metro Manila Council chairperson and San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora and Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. L-ray Villafuerte received sacks of well-milled rice during a ceremonial turnover on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

“NFA had planned to release around 25.000 metric tons a month during the food security emergency. NFA said that volume could be increased if needed,” the Department of Agriculture said.

The food security emergency declaration paved the way to free up NFA warehouses for storage of incoming harvest.

The NFA would sell the stocks to local government units, government agencies, and government owned and controlled corporations at P33 per kilogram. They could put a P2 mark-up for logistics costs.

The government said it expects the release of cheap rice to bring down retail prices after the tariff cut hardly made a dent on the price tag.