NFA rice stocks repositioned to Visayas

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel yesterday ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to begin repositioning rice stocks to the Visayas in preparation for the implementation of the P20-per-kilo rice program.

“It will take several weeks to transfer tens, even hundreds of thousands of 50-kilo bags (of) rice from NFA warehouses, particularly from Mindoro, to various parts of the Visayas,” Tiu Laurel said.

Tiu Laurel also chairs the NFA Council.

The Commission on Elections has earlier granted the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s request for its P20-a-kilo rice project to be exempted from the election ban.

Reducing the price of rice to P20 per kilo was a key campaign promise of President Marcos during the 2022 presidential race.

Tiu Laurel said the subsidy for the lower-priced rice will be shared equally by the DA’s Food Terminal Inc. and participating local government units.

“The rice for this initiative will come from the NFA’s buffer stocks, which, as of last week, had reached a five-year high of 378,157 metric tons – equivalent to 7.56 million bags of rice. This is enough to feed all Filipinos for 10 days,” Tiu Laurel added.

He said the NFA warehouses in Iloilo alone currently hold the equivalent of 862,409 sacks of rice.

Tiu Laurel highlighted that the Visayas was chosen for the pilot run of the P20-per-kilo rice program due to its higher-than-average poverty rate, which exceeds the national average of 10.9 percent. In some regions, such as Negros Island and Eastern Visayas, the poverty rate is more than double – 2.6 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively.

Governors from the Visayas have also endorsed the program and are ready to share part of subsidy.

Tiu Laurel said aside from providing affordable rice to millions of financially struggling Filipinos, the initiative will also help clear space in NFA warehouses, allowing the agency to purchase more palay from local farmers at higher prices.

Meanwhile, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong slammed Vice President Sara Duterte for mocking the govern[1]ment’s attempts to reduce rice prices, not[1]ing that it soared to P70 per kilo during the presidency of her father Rodrigo Duterte — Delon Porcalla