THE National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental has yet to receive the memorandum from the Department of Agriculture (DA) before it can start implementing the suggested retail prices (SRPs) for rice in the province, its top official said Sunday, November 4.

Frisco Canoy, provincial manager of NFA-Negros Occidental, said that there is no communication yet from the agency as to the effectivity of rice SRPs in the province, which was earlier announced by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to start Monday, November 5.

“Aside from the effectivity, the memorandum will also contain the new rice classification and how it will be displayed in the market including the labeling,” he added.

During Canoy’s visit to the province on October 26, the Agriculture chief said that the price of rice in the province is seen to further drop with the impending implementation of SRPs.

Piñol, who is also the chairman of the NFA Council, said that retailers have to follow the SRPs as there are penal provisions for its implementation.

“Once implemented, violators may be imprisoned for four months up to four years depending on the offense,” he warned.

“This is on top of cancelation of license in engaging in grains trading and penalty of P2, 000 to P1 million for overpricing,” he added.

Earlier, the agency pointed out that there will be separate SRPs for the regions like Western Visayas including Negros Occidental.

This will depend on the result of the cost structure analysis being conducted.

In Metro Manila, for instance, SRPs for imported well-milled rice is set at P39 per kilogram.

For premium imported rice, the cost should not be higher than P43 per kilogram, which is the same rice sold for P65 to P68 per kilogram months ago.

In terms of local rice, the SRPs among markets in Metro Manila are P39 for regular milled, P44 for well-milled, and P47 per kilogram for premium rice.

Piñol explained that the price in Metro Manila will just serve as the basis for setting regional SRPs. Thus, it may be lower or higher as figures are not constant including that for the transport cost.

To ensure compliance, the monitoring will be conducted by the NFA, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and even the Philippine National Police (PNP), he added. (EPN)