The National Food Authority (NFA), the government agency tasked to ensure sufficient rice buffer stocks in the country, reported increased stocks in its warehouses despite the continued rollout of the PHP20-per-kilo rice and the recent typhoons.
“Our stocks are now at 460,000 metric tons from the previous count, 453,000. So it increased to 7,000 MT increase,” NFA Administrator Larry del Rosario Lacson reported during a press conference on Friday, Nov. 16. The current buffer stock is good for 12.03 days.
The NFA has already rolled out the PHP20-per-kilo rice to 82 provinces, with the latest in Tawi-Tawi, Jolo, Sulu, benefiting 300 individuals—the largest so far in the program. “So despite the rollout of the rice stocks, our stocks are increasing. This means that despite the calamities and the releases of rice, we are able to buy more rice than what is available. That’s why our buffer stock is healthy,” he pointed out.
“All our warehouses have available rice for distribution,” he added.
As of today, the NFA has already released 101,000 bags of rice to affected areas in Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Region 5, Region 6, and Region 7. The biggest releases are in Region 7 and Camarines.
The recent Typhoons Tino and Uwan caused damage to three regional warehouses, affecting 300 bags of rice, but these were not wasted because the NFA was able to dry them immediately.
Palay farmgate prices have also improved since the Department of Agriculture adopted the NFA buying price as the floor price for palay. In Bukidnon, he said, prices have increased by one peso per kilo. Prices for fresh palay now range from PHP17–PHP23 and PHP23–PHP30 for clean and dry palay.
Meantime, Lacson reported that the NFA obtained an Excellent rating from the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GCG) in its Good Governance Scorecard for 2024.
“This is the first excellent rating that NFA got in the last five years. So it’s a testament to our commitment to good governance,” he said.
Since his assumption as NFA chief last year, the NFA’s Internal Audit Unit has implemented intensified audit procedures as part of President Marcos’ crackdown on corrupt practices in government.
