Palace to NFA: Release rice stocks to markets

Malacañang on Tuesday issued Memorandum Order No. 28 directing the National Food Authority (NFA) to immediately release existing rice stocks in its warehouses to boost rice supply in the market and protect consumers from profiteers and hoarders.

In the order, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea directed the NFA to "immediately release to markets approximately 230,000 metric tons of rice currently in stock in the warehouses across the country."

Aside from this, the food agen-

cy has also been ordered "to release 100,000 metric tons of rice previously contracted to be delivered before the end of September."

"Subject to applicable laws and issuances, the NFA is further directed to adopt measures to ensure access by consumers to regular milled and well milled rice," the order read.

It noted that certain administrative constraints and fees unduly add to the costs of importation of basic agricultural commodities and contribute to price increases.

"There is a need to promulgate measures to stabilize the prices of basic agricultural commodities at reasonable levels, to maintain their sufficient supply in the domestic market and to provide effective and sufficient protection to consumers against hoarding, profiteering, and cartels with respect to the supply, distribution, marketing and pricing of said goods," the memorandum read. Seamless delivery Malacañang likewise issued two other directives to ensure efficient delivery of imported agriculture products to the markets.

In Memorandum Order No. 27, the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine National Police (PNP) and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have been directed to adopt measures to ensure the efficient and seamless delivery of imported agriculture and fishery products from the ports to markets.

The concerned agencies have been authorized to issue "food lane passes for truckers and suppliers carrying agricultural products."

Memorandum Order No. 26, on the other hand, directed the DA and DTI to adopt measures to reduce the gap between farm gate prices and retail prices of agricultural products.

Among the measures include establishment of public outlets and cold storages where producers of agricultural commodities as well as poultry producers can directly sell to consumers.

The concerned agencies have been directed to submit to the Office of the Executive Secretary a progress report within a month.

The three memorandum orders, signed by Medialdea by the authority of President Duterte last September 21,are effective immediately.

Incentives

Meanwhile, the NFA Council, the highest policy-making body of NFA, said it is planning to give incentives to farmers who will sell rice at government's buying price of P17 per kilo.

This was revealed by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who now chairs the NFA Council. The NFA has been using the low buying price of palay as an excuse not to procure palay from local farmers and instead relied on the importation of rice from other countries to boost its stock.

The agency claimed that local farmers prefer selling their produce to private traders at P20 per kilo or more.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released this month showed that the average farmgate price of palay has reached P23.66 per kilogram nationwide. (With a report from Madelaine B. Miraflor)