TESS (not her real name) stared at the selection of commercial rice sold at the produce section of a grocery store in Cebu City for nearly five minutes.
When she first arrived in Cebu to study almost four years ago, her parents bought her a small rice cooker since she'd be staying in a boarding house.
Since then, the 20-year-old college student has been buying five kilos of rice monthly, which she said has helped her save.
"I only have to think about the meat. But because I'm graduating soon, I have been stress-eating a lot. My supply runs out even before the month ends, so I have to buy again," she told SunStar Cebu in Cebuano.
Tess only has P500 in her pocket until her parents in Bohol can send her money.
She usually buys Ganador, one of the well-known variants of commercial rice. Its price, though, has increased from P53 per kilo to P56.
"It's getting expensive, but I really need it. That's why I take time to decide what to buy. I'm supposed to be a Math major, but all these numbers on the price tags are making me dizzy," Tess said.
With commercial rice continuously increasing in price, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered more National Food Authority (NFA) rice to be made available nationwide, particularly in supermarkets.
But how come we don't see that yet?
According to NFA 7 Director Fernando Nuñez, their central office is waiting for the transfer of project funds by the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association (Pagasa) directly to any NFA branch on cash basis.
"This is in accordance with the tripartite memorandum of agreement among NFA, Pagasa and the Department of Trade and Industry," he said.
The NFA is a government office tasked to ensure national food security, and to stabilize supply and prices of staple cereals both in the farm and consumer levels.
It sets a uniform buying price of rice based on various standards to give farmers return of their investment, and puts in the market accessible, safe and affordable NFA rice at fixed prices.
Around 20 percent of the total rice consumed in Cebu annually is NFA rice.
Contrary to popular belief that only poor families are qualified to buy NFA rice, any consumer is actually eligible to buy the low-priced rice, as evidenced by a certification from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
At present, there are 410 NFA rice retailers in major and minor markets in Cebu.
Recently, Prince Warehouse Club Inc. announced that it is in the process of complying with the requirements to sell rice from the NFA.
Each supermarket is allotted 50 bags of NFA rice sold at either P27 or P32 per kilo. The supermarket owners go to the nearest NFA branch to pay for their stocks.
After this, they will proceed to the designated NFA warehouse to withdraw their allocation similar to what regular NFA-accredited retailers are currently doing.
Consumers will be allowed to buy NFA rice at supermarkets in two-kilo packs.
The NFA, though, is still looking for more accredited retailers to make low-priced rice accessible to more consumers.
"NFA Cebu determines the need to open and/or accredit more outlets in specific areas in accordance with its matrix of rice consumption requirement by municipality versus number of existing NFA-accredited outlets in said place," Nuñez said.
An interested sole proprietor will have to submit two copies of passport-sized pictures, photocopies of their business permit and a sketch of their store's location.
Corporations, partnerships and cooperatives, on the other hand, are required to submit two copies of their board resolution authorizing the representative to sign for and in behalf of the entity; passport-sized photos of the representative; articles of incorporation and bylaws; and a certificate of registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission or certificate of cooperation with the Cooperative Development Authority.
Nuñez, though, stressed that the lack of cheap rice is not necessarily caused by lack of retailers and vice versa.
It can be attributed instead to agricultural damage caused by natural calamities, among others.
Because of this, commercial rice continues to be abundant in the market, but their prices are high.
The NFA 7 buffer buildup comes from rice procurement from local farmers, local rice influx from other regions and rice procurement from imports.
"NFA 7 can buy a very minimal volume from Cebu farmers since the province's rice production is meager compared to the burgeoning population or consumption. Cebu does not have big rice millers," Nuñez said.
The region's imported rice allocation depends on the national import volume.
Of the first batch of national imports this year totaling 500,000 metric tons (MT), NFA 7 got 9.8 percent, or 49,000 MT.
An additional allocation of 30,000 MT is expected to arrive in the last quarter and will represent four percent of the next batch of 750,000 MT national imports.
NFA 7 relies heavily on international rice supply through importation usually from Vietnam and Thailand. The source of local rice, on the other hand, was the milled output of rice procured from local farmers.
Around 99.8 percent of NFA 7 rice distribution in the last four years was imported rice and a measly 0.2 percent was local rice.
Nuñez said this is because farmers in Central Visayas not only produce inadequate supply, they also don't sell their products to the government because the NFA buying price for clean and dry rice is only P17 per kilo.
"NFA wants to buy from local farmers, but its buying price, since its effectivity in February 2009, cannot compete with the prices of traders and millers," he continued.
Farm gate prices of freshly harvested rice has already soared to as high as P29 per kilo.
Aside from this, Cebu's mountainous terrain is not ideal for rice production. There is also the conversion of farm lands into industrial and residential areas.
Small farm areas in the provinces are only 0.5 hectares per farmer and there is the lack of continuous water supply, especially during the summer.