NFA: No buffer stocks released yet after food security emergency declaration

The National Food Authority (NFA) on Saturday said that it has yet to release any rice stocks in its warehouses following the declaration of food security emergency earlier this week.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said, “Sa ngayon, wala pang nare-report sa atin na released na NFA rice mula nung ma-declare.”

(For now, there have been no reports yet that NFA rice was released after the declaration.)

On Monday, February 3, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. declared a food security emergency on rice based on the recommendations from the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC), citing high prices even after the cost of production was lowered, and lower tariffs on imported rice.

The declaration will allow the NFA to sell its buffer stocks to the public to tame the retail prices of the grain.

The stocks will be released through the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), and will then be sold to the public at a price of P35 per kilo, among the cheapest available, as the government seeks to lower prices of rice to levels seen prior to the spike recorded in June and July 2023.

“Sa ngayon, ang mga sakong nakalaan na pwede nang i-release natin ay nasa mahigit 730,000 sacks of milled rice, nationwide,” Lacson said.

(So far, the sacks of rice available to be released nationwide are at over 730,000 sacks of milled rice.)

The NFA chief said the agency is coordinating with all local government units (LGUs), including the FTI, for the release of its rice buffer stocks.

“Mayroon lang sigurong mga proseso na inaayos ang mga LGU kaya natatagalan sa pagbili ng bigas sa NFA,” he said.

--Ted Cordero/ VAL, GMA Integrated News