By NONOY E. LACSON
March 15, 2010, 3:28pm
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Region 9 office of the National Food Authority (NFA 9) has started to infuse here some 1.6 million bags of Vietnam rice or about 83,000 metric tons of government rice for distribution to the various provinces and cities in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
NFA Zamboanga City Manager Gaudencio “Boy” Nuega Jr. Monday said the imported rice will be distributed to the entire region to pre-empt any attempt of rice traders in the area to increase the price of commercial rice as a result of the El Niño phenomenon.
Nuega also dismissed speculations that the city and the entire region are now experiencing a shortfall in the supply of rice for the people.
The NFA here said the city and the region have enough commercial rice for the local residents and the price of commercial rice has not increased for the past few months.
An indication, he said, that the city and the region has enough supply of rice for its people even with dry spell that have hit the peninsula since January this year.
Nuega said the region has already received about 512,000 bags of rice since last January.
Adding that the arrival of 1.6 million bags of rice here starting this month until July would further guarantee the people that NFA 9 has enough supply of rice for them.
For his part, NFA 9 Assistant Regional Director Crestituto C. Mangaoang also affirmed with the observation of Nuega saying that most of their warehouses in the region have enough supply of government rice and their present stock inventory could even last for the next 30 days at a regular rate of distribution to local markets in the region.
As this developed, Mangaoang assured the people of this city and the region that once the supply of commercial rice will become low, NFA will immediately infuse the necessary rice requirement of the region.
This will also ensure, he said, that the price of commercial will not increase as projected by unscrupulous commercial rice traders in the region.
“We will always make sure that the price of rice sold at government markets would be very much affordable to the poor people of this city and the region,” Mangaoang said.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/247863/zambo-peninsula-gets-16-million-bags-nfa-rice
