Gov’t to auction off NFA rice months after food emergency declaration

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Only 20,000 bags of rice had been withdrawn from NFA warehouses, says NFA Administrator Larry Lacson since February

MANILA, Philippines – The government will auction off National Food Authority (NFA) rice following the slow release of stocks to local government units after the declaration of a food security emergency.

“Magpapa-auction ako under the law (I will auction it off, under the law),” NFA Administrator Larry Lacson told reporters Monday, April 14.

The floor price for the auction is yet to be determined, but Lacson said this will be a “combination of the world market prices and current costs.”

The Department of Agriculture (DA) declared a food security emergency back in February so the NFA could release its rice stocks to make way for new stocks given the approaching harvest season.

However, only a few local government units had purchased from the DA. So far, Camarines Sur, San Juan, Navotas, Cotabato, Isabela, and Mati, were the only local governments that availed of NFA rice following the food emergency declaration. A month after the food emergency declaration, DA and NFA had called on local governments to hasten their pullout of NFA rice.

“We will be targeting the auction for the regions na puno ang bodega so that we can free up nga then we can buy,” Lacson said. (We will be targeting the auction for the regions that have full warehouses so we can free up and buy.) How much volume the government will auction off is yet to be determined.

The NFA is mandated by law to buy rice from local farmers and maintain a 15-day buffer stock supply for emergencies. Storage and full warehouses remain issues for the agency.

The auction may happen by end of April or by May, said Lacson.

The administrator, who also spoke at a Malacañang briefing on Tuesday, April 15, said local governments had been slow to buy NFA rice because some were still getting exemption from the Commission on Elections while others were arranging resolutions with their councils.

“[S]a ngayon nasa 20,000 bags pa lang iyong actual na lumalabas sa aming bodega,” Lacson told reporters Tuesday. “Pero napakaraming orders, meaning hindi pa lang nila nawi-withdraw.”

The NFA initially targeted a release of 500,000 bags per month.

(Right now, 20,000 bags of rice have been released from our warehouses. But there are many orders, which means not all orders have been withdrawn.)

Local government units which plan to distribute NFA rice for free, or sell these at a much lower price, have to secure disqualification exemption from the Comelec, elections chairman George Garcia told reporters previously. – Rappler.com