NFA rice shipment stuck in ports due to bad weather

Shipments of rice imported by the National Food Authority remained stuck inside cargo vessels due the inclement weather, triggering a scarcity of the staple in public markets.

This has left consumers with no choice but to go for the much more expensive commercial rice.

At the Malanday Market in Valenzuela, for instance, NFA rice sold out as early as 9 a.m. on Wednesday, forcing consumers like Louie Jose, who came in at the market an hour later, to go for the commercial staple.

"Parang yun binibili kong P43 na [commercial rice] halos parehas lang sila ng [NFA rice]. Ito mas mababa P27. Bibili ka ng medyo mahal, talagang sira ang budget. Kaya lang hindi puwedeng walang bigas, kaya bibili ka ng mas mahal," said Jose.

NFA rice retailer Conrado Lim said their supply of NFA rice is not enough to meet the increasing demand from consumers.

"Sakto lang ang NGA ngayon. Eh talagang naubos agad ang benta kasi nga sa dami ng bumibili," he said.

He said contributing to the delay are the delivery trucks who have a hard time distributing NFA rice due to bad weather.

"Pinipilit namin madeliver agad ang problema yun truck pila rin ho e kaya di rin maiwasan madelay rin ng konti," he said.

GMA News visited the NFA Warehouse in Malanday and was welcomed with a queue of trucks waiting for their turn to collect NFA rice.

Porters load sacks of rice onto a truck inside an NFA warehouse in Valenzuela where the supply of the staple has significantly dwindled in recent days. The rice sacks will be transported to public markets all over Metro Manila. Bernadette Reyes

NFA spokesperson Rex Estoperez said while the 250,000 metric tons of NFA rice acquired through government-to-government procurement are now in Philippine shores, a significant part of these imports remain inside cargo vessels docked in various sea ports due to inclement weather.

"For example ngayon hindi natin mababa iyong ating stocks in Manila [and] in central Luzon dahil nga dito sa bagyo na sunud-sunod," he said.

In earlier interviews, Estoperez claimed prices of commercial rice will return to normal once NFA rice shipments are brought to the markets.

He said the amount of NFA rice they are able to send out to retailers is not big enough to affect the prices of the staple in the market.

"Pag nag intervene kami sa market before, the [purpose] is to flood the market, meaning nag-intervene kami ng volume that can influence the prices and the supply in the market," he said.

"But now kasi mukhang hindi pa natin naabot yun volume that can influence the price in the market. nagkaroon tayo ng stocks sa mga bodega natin pero naagad yan because of the unloading problem," he added.

Estoperez assured that unloading of the NFA rice will resume as soon as weather conditions improve. — MDM, GMA News