FROM the initial schedule in August, the P27 per kilogram government rice will still be available among local markets in Negros Occidental probably until October this year.
Engineer Frisco Canoy, provincial manager of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental, said they have not fully distributed the remaining 50,000 bags of imported rice intended for distribution in August.
Canoy said the current rice inventory in the province is 27,000 bags which form part of the previous allocation from Myanmar and Vietnam.
Of which, 12,000 bags were already purchased by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its supplemental feeding program.
"The remaining 15,000 bags are still good for distribution up to the second week of September," he added.
Canoy, along with other provincial managers, met with top officials of NFA- Western Visayas in Iloilo City Monday, September 2.
They were informed, during the meeting, that there are still "huge" inventory of imported rice in Luzon so the region is expected to get an additional 100,000 bags.
Of the figure, bulk will be allocated for Negros Occidental, at about 40,000 bags.
Canoy said these stocks will be added to the remaining 15,000 bags inventory of NFA-Negros Occidental.
Thus, instead the distribution is supposedly only until last month, it will be continued within the next two months, Canoy said.
"We can expect NFA rice presence among local markets until we fully distribute our available buffer stocks," he added.
On February 14, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11203, which lifted import restrictions on rice to make the price of the staple commodity affordable for all.
Effective March 5 this year, the Rice Import and Export Liberalization Law has removed the regulatory functions of the NFA over international and domestic trading of rice.
NFA-Negros Occidental, like other provincial offices, can no longer act on licensing and registration of persons and entities engaged in the grains business, and collection of regulatory fees.
Other functions stripped from the agency included issuance of negotiable warehouse receipts, warehouse inspection, and authority to seize hoarded stocks, and enforce rules and regulations in the grains business.
Its concentration will now be on buffer stocking mainly for emergencies and calamities.
The NFA official in Negros Occidental said the extension of distribution does not violate the provision of the law on rice tariffication.
In fact, the total volume of the remaining inventory of NFA rice in the country is not yet enough for 15-day buffer stocking intended for emergencies and calamities, Canoy said.
"These stocks have been stored for several months so it should be disposed already," he said, adding the agency also continues to buy palay (unhusked rice) for buffer stock replenishment.
While NFA-Negros Occidental has yet to purchase more palay from local producers, it will allocate some 10,000 bags from the remaining import allocation for calamities.
The agency would need 20,960 bags if it supplies alone the entire daily consumption requirement of the province.
Canoy, however, said that based on history, NFA-Negros Occidental would not need such volume for calamities.
It had not happened yet, he said.