TO ensure availability of cheaper government rice in the market until the new import allocation for the province arrives, the National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental is set to control its distribution among local accredited retailers.
Frisco Canoy, provincial manager of NFA-Negros Occidental, in a phone interview with SunStar Bacolod on Monday, August 27, said they will possibly reduce the allocation per outlet starting September until there is already a schedule for arrival of the vessel.
Canoy earlier said that another batch of 6.5 metric tons, or 130,000 bags of imported rice, is arriving in the province in September.
It will form part of the 250,000 metric tons of rice arriving in the country.
As to the source, it may come from different countries which are able to bid since it is a government to private importation.
In July, the initial allocation of 80,000 bags of imported rice from Thailand arrived in the province.
Of which, at least 65 percent of the total buffer stocks were already distributed by the agency among accredited rice retailers or outlets as of yesterday.
NFA-Negros Occidental records showed that there are currently 157 accredited NFA rice retailers in the province, mostly in Bacolod City.
As to the number of bags distributed per outlet, Canoy said: "there is no fixed volume."
Data obtained by SunStar Bacolod showed that for last week's distribution, NFA-Negros Occidental has provided 45 bags per outlet in major public markets in Bacolod City, and 30 bags for "outside markets" like in the barangays.
For major public markets in other towns and cities, it has distributed 40 bags of NFA rice per accredited outlet.
While every outlet among "outside markets" in these localities received 30 bags, it added.
"We will evaluate regularly as to what outlets really need NFA rice supply," Canoy said.
This means that outlets with higher demand for NFA rice will be given more allocation while reducing the distribution to those with a smaller requirement.
"That is our consideration. We will focus our distribution to areas where we can help many poor consumers," he added.
NFA-Negros Occidental has noted brisk sales of the P27 per kilogram of government rice in the local markets.
The agency attributed it to good quality of NFA rice with price competitive to that of commercial rice, up to P60 per kilogram.