Monday, July 07, 2008 NFA rice quota of 3 stalls suspended
THE local National Food Authority (NFA) has suspended for a week the rice allocation of three “bigasan ni Gloria sa palengke” outlets in the Central Public Market in Bacolod.
NFA manager Marianito Bejemino said “bigasan ni Gloria” operators Gloria Lanaca, Zenaida Paculan, and Arnel Malayang were fined P4,000 for violating the NFA deed of undertaking or the memorandum of understanding (MOU) entered into between the agency and the operators.
Under the MOU, an NFA-accredited outlet should operate from 8 a.m.-12 noon and 1 p.m.-5 p.m. everyday.
However, the three stalls were found closed during the random inspection and monitoring done by the NFA Enforcement and Investigation Section.
Bejemino clarified that said violation was the cause of the suspension and not the reported mixing of NFA rice.
He warned the operators that committing such violation again would tantamount to revoking their rights and authority to sell NFA rice and transferring its accreditation to other applicants.
Another action made by the NFA was to consolidate the three operators into one NFA operating outlet for easy monitoring.
Instead of the three outlets, one outlet will operate daily and every operator is given two days in a week to operate and sell NFA rice.
“It’s up to them who will operate during Sundays, depending on the availability of their stocks,” Bejemino said.
The store owned by Lanaca would be used as the “bigasan ni Gloria sa palengke” outlet at the Central Public Market.
NFA has also recommended that a consumer could purchase up to five kilos of NFA rice at P25 per kilo.
Meanwhile, Bejemino said the complaint on the alleged mixing of NFA rice with a commercial variety turned out negative and that no one would come out into the open to testify in support of such allegation.
But to prevent said illegal activity and protect the interest of the consuming public, the NFA will dispatch enforcement and investigation teams to do an inventory of NFA rice stocks every morning and in the afternoon.
“Thus, we will exactly monitor the movement of the stock and can easily detect if there are discrepancies made and likewise the alleged mixing would be prevented,” Bejemino said.
NFA public information officer Gricelda Antonio, on the other hand, said some 120,000 bags of rice from Thailand will arrive within this week. (Larry D. Lames)
