Rice prices going down in Zamboanga City
The prices of rice in Zamboanga City, where a state of calamity was declared due to the rice crisis, are starting to stabilize, according to the National Food Authority.
Citing its price monitoring, the NFA said some stores in the city, where rice prices soared to P70 per kilogram, are now selling commercial rice at P48 per kilo.
The government sent more than 4,000 rice bags in Zamboanga City to beef up supply and address the rising price of the staple. The volume covers about 80 percent of the population of the city with a daily requirement of 5,340 bags.
Aside from accredited rice outlets, the NFA deployed mobile stores through its Tagpuan Day Rice Response Delivery (TDRRD) to reach more consumers.
TDRRD is a rice distribution strategy wherein NFA rice is sold at P27 per kilo to poor and marginalized communities at an appointed time and place in coordination with barangay officials.
“We will continue to inject low priced rice not only in Zamboanga City but all over the country, especially in island provinces and calamity-prone areas to provide our consumers a reprieve and alternative for highly priced commercial rice,” the NFA said.
Lower prices
The NFA said rice prices are expected to further go down after it opened special rice importation for Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi totaling 133,500 metric tons.
The inter-agency NFA Council approved last week the special importation, which is part of the excess in the 805,000-MT minimum access volume (MAV).
The initial 33,500 MT to be delivered within 15 days after the issuance of a certificate of eligibility to import rice will be allocated only to non-winning bidders during the MAV auction.
The remaining 100,000 MT will be allocated through auction, of which 80 percent will be set aside for farmer organizations.
The 33,500 MT is expected to arrive not later than Sept. 30 and the 100,000 MT not later than Nov. 30.
The importation is expected to be sufficient for two months.
The rice crisis in Zamboanga City and nearby provinces was triggered by the closure of rice smuggling routes from Malaysia last month.