Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Sta. Ana folks ask for more NFA rice
STA. ANA -- Bearing the heat of the mid-morning sun, local residents here doing their daily marketing joined the already long line of rice buyers last Monday to get their two-kilo rice allocation from the market's sole dealer.
Consuelo Lagman, 46, a housewife and a mother of four, said she fell in line as early as 7 a.m., hoping to buy at least a kilo of the NFA rice priced at P25 per kilo.
She prayed that the dealer would not close because of lack of supply before her turn comes. "The one kilo that I buy is good for us till tomorrow. Then I would have to line up again tomorrow for another," she said, telling this correspondent that her husband is just a daily wage-earning construction worker.
Others in the line said the lone dealer often runs out of the low-priced NFA rice and is unable to supply the many who can't afford commercial rice tagged from P32 to 44 per kilo.
"Commercial rice is still costly. Prices have not really gone down," said Efren Tayag, a fish vendor at the line's tail-end.
Earlier reports noted that the price of commercial rice had been cut to as much as 50 percent, but the situation here belied it, as other dealers continue to sell various well-milled varieties at staggering rates.
According to NFA officials, the agency is posed to release additional supply of NFA rice to buffer the onset of the lean months. "We will see to it that NFA rice remains available at P18.25 per kg in community-based outlets such as the Tindahan Natin, Bigasan sa Parokya which are operated by religious groups and local government units (LGUs) like Sta. Ana. These will specifically to cater to the low income groups," an NFA official said.
The official said high end-rice varieties, priced at P25 and P35 per kilogram, respectively, are available at accredited retailers and institutionalized Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke outlets in the market. But the NFA admitted that because of huge demands from consumers, authorized dealers find their stockpiles not enough to meet these needs.
Authorities said they would continue injecting the high-end rice varieties to influence the price of commercial rice. They also said NFA has already introduced the "multi-tiered rice pricing" system, which would include the P18.25 NFA rice, P25 NFA commercial rice, and the P35 high grade rice.
The P18.25 would be concentrated on the masses and those who have family access cards. But both the rice and the cards have yet to reach consumers in this town. (JTDL)
