MANILA, Philippines - National Food Authority officer-in-charge Ludovico Jarina has assured typhoon-affected areas in the Visayas and Mindanao that the agency has enough rice stocks to meet the requirements of local residents.
Jarina instructed all NFA officials in the typhoon-affected areas of regions 8 (Southern Leyte), 10 (Camiguin) and 11 (General Santos City, Davao and Compostela Valley) to coordinate with local government units (LGUs) in their respective areas for the smooth and immediate release of government rice for local relief operations even as the agency’s own offices and facilities had also sustained damage from super typhoon Pablo.
NFA warehouses in Compostela Valley and Davao were severely damaged with roofs and walls torn and some stocks soaked in rainwater. But local NFA officials quickly worked to save more stocks from damage and ensure that the soaked are brought to other warehouses within the region for mechanical drying, while strictly monitoring their respective inventories.
NFA rice for relief operations is released through LGUs, non-government organizations (NGOs) and relief agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC). These are either paid in cash or credit under a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with LGUs and other government agencies doing relief assistance.