Stormy weather delays NFA rice deliveries

By ARIEL P. AVENDAÑO

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija — The regional office of the National Food Authority (NFA) has yet to receive the complete delivery of the 400,000 bags of imported rice allocated for Central Luzon and the other 100,000 bags for Cagayan Valley region due to stormy weather.

James Hadlocon, NFA Assistant Regional Director for Central Luzon (Region 3) said that as of yesterday (June 22), only 332,530 bags of NFA rice have been delivered to the regional warehouses which were allocated for distribution in various retailers in Region 3.

Hadlocon said that out of the initial deliveries, the breakdown of rice bags is as follows: Bataan - 8,000; Bulacan - 3,000; Nueva Ecija - 3,000; Pampanga - 11,000; Tarlac 5,830; and Zambales – 800.

A total of 4,000 bags are allocated for NFA rice retailers in Aurora province.

“It’s not ideal to unload the rice from the delivery trucks with this kind of wet weather, and must be ensured that rice were protected from developing moisture content while inside the warehouses to avoid getting rotten,” Hadlocon said in Filipino.

Genoveva Villar, NFA head in Nueva Ecija, said that as of yesterday only 2,100 bags are stockpiled at the provincial NFA warehouse in this city due to the prevailing stormy weather.

A total of 180,000 bags are allocated for 386 NFA rice retailers in the entire province, she said.