AMID uncertainty on the arrival of the province's import allocation, the National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental has again requested for another 10,000 bags of rice from Iloilo to augment its existing limited buffer stocks.
Earlier in October, NFA-Negros Occidental first requested 10,000 bags of rice from its counterpart in Iloilo.
Of which, only 5,000 bags were already shipped to the province as of last week. The remaining 5,000 bags are expected to arrive this week.
Thus, all in all, the province's request for rice augmentation is 20,000 bags.
Frisco Canoy, provincial manager of NFA-Negros Occidental, on Monday, October 15, said there is no final schedule yet as to the arrival of the vessel carrying the province's import allocation.
He earlier said that it might arrive on the first week of November this year along with the importation for General Santos and Davao.
Of the 600,000 bags from Thailand or Vietnam up for shipment, the province is expected to get 100,000 bags.
Canoy, however, said the shipment might be delayed due to several factors like bad weather. Of the three areas, Negros Occidental is the last discharge port.
"The request for another 10,000 bags are intended for our target distribution during the remaining weeks of the month," Canoy said, adding that once approved, Negros Occidental is expected to get 15,000 bags more from Iloilo.
NFA-Negros Occidental records showed that the province's inventory of the P27 per kilogram government rice is about 5,000 bags as of October 15.
Given its participation of 10 percent in the daily consumption rate of Negrenses at 20,600 bags, it may last only for about three days.
Amid the limited buffer, NFA-Negros Occidental continues to "stretch" the supply through one, reducing the distribution among accredited rice retailers.
To prioritize consumers in the marginalized sector, it is also sustaining its "tagpuan" centers with a weekly allocation of 20 bags each.
Meanwhile, aside from the request for augmentation, the province is also expected to get at least 10,000 bags for the supplemental feeding program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Canoy said they also requested for the shipment of this volume so it can already be delivered to various recipient-day care centers in the province.
"Other provinces in the region have already withdrew their stocks for the feeding program after the DSWD has paid for it," he added.