Wednesday, March 26, 2008 NFA 7 expects 360T sacks of rice to arrive on Friday; weekly shipments to follow
THERE is no basis for the public to panic over reports of a looming rice shortage, National Food Authority (NFA) 7 officials assured yesterday.
They said that even without commercial stocks, the reserve will last for four months.
Also, a cargo vessel carrying 120,000 rice bags from Vietnam arrived at the Cebu City Port yesterday.
The new shipment of imported rice will boost NFA’s present stock of 600,000 to 700,000 rice bags in its bodega, said Edgar Diez, acting NFA 7 regional information officer.
NFA Cebu provincial manager Ramon Astilla said they are even looking for more warehouses to store the imported rice – about 360,000 sacks – that will start arriving on Friday on board three vessels. Thereafter, one vessel carrying imported rice will be arriving.
Astilla also said there is no truth to reports of a rice shortage in Camotes Island because the NFA warehouse there is full of stocks and allocations are released to licensed dealers twice a week.
The assurance came after a social welfare officer complained to a radio station that the NFA has issued an accreditation to illegitimate rice traders in the town.
Tudela Mayor Rogelio Baquerpo said he is looking into the allegation.
NFA 7 officials have also called for a meeting with at least 60 licensed retailers, mostly members of the Grains Confederation of the Philippines (Grecon), who were reminded that NFA rice must be sold at P18.25 per kilo to poor people.
Grecon vice president Erwin Gok-ong said a violator will suffer the perpetual cancellation of the NFA license.
Another rice retailer, who refused to be named, feared that rice shortage will happen in Cebu if big-time wholesalers and dealers will start hoarding. He said that the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) must watch out for signs of rice hoarding.
But Astilla said that with their reserve of half a million sacks, plus the coming shipment, hoarders may end up at the losing end.
Astilla, however, admitted that this Friday’s shipment is already very expensive, valued at US$700 to $800 per metric ton.
Records at the Bureau of Customs Port of Cebu show that rice shipments for February and March were valued at US$300 per metric ton. The latest NFA importation was valued at US$558 per metric ton.
“It’s already very expensive. The NFA retailers are selling it at P18.25 per kilo. This means that the government is subsidizing the price to help the poor people,” Astilla said.
The price of corn has also doubled from P16 per kilo last January to P32 per kilo yesterday.
To make sure that NFA rice is really sold to the poor consumers, Astilla said they are hiring more than 100 enumerators to monitor NFA outlets in Metro Cebu.
Astilla said that the enumerators will see to it that NFA rice will reach the intended beneficiaries.
“They can sell half a kilo to consumers who cannot afford to buy one kilo of NFA rice,” said Diez.
Each member of a group of retailers operating in major markets in Metro Cebu is given 20 rice bags to be disposed of in six days, Diez added.
He also said that retailers are now required to post their store-hours (eight hours per day) because of complaints that they refused to sell NFA rice early in the morning. Non-compliance could mean suspension of their NFA dealership.
Cebu City Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem told Sun.Star Cebu that he will request President Arroyo on Friday to heed the suggestion of Robert Go, former Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president, to authorize businessmen to import rice until the commodity’s supply will be stable.
Jakosalem also said that he will also request Arroyo to suspend the imposition of a 50 percent tariff on imported rice to make sure that prices will go down.
He said that free-for-all importation at times of rice crisis will prevent hoarding especially that at present, only a few control importation and distribution.
Grecon president Teresa Alegado, however, believes that Cebu traders cannot afford to hoard rice.
NFA rice, she added, can hardly be hoarded because the allocations are not released in bulk.
Meanwhile, Provincial Board (PB) Member Wilfredo Caminero, chairperson of the committee on agriculture and livelihood, said he will draft a resolution asking an NFA representative to appear before the board during its regular session next Monday.
Caminero explained that NFA will be asked to apprise the board of the rice situation in the province. Grain retailers will also be invited.
The NFA briefing will be the basis for what measures the committee on agriculture can adopt. (EOB/GC/GMD/JGA)
