NATIONAL Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Jason Laureano Y. Aquino said that he welcomes a Commission on Audit review of the NFA’s operations.
In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Aquino said the agency’s documents are ready for scrutiny after the interagency NFA Council called for an independent audit, after NFA stocks fell, reducing the volume of low-cost rice on the market.
NFA Council Chairman and Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco, Jr. has questioned the NFA’s decision to release rice onto the market between October and December, compromising its ability to stabilize prices during the lean months.
In a statement, NFA said it released rice late last year to support relief operations in areas hit by calamity. It also supplied rice to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the use of poor families.
The NFA said that rice distribution was 14 million bags in 2017, with 784,429 bags going to relief operations.
The NFA releases low-cost rice to stabilize prices and provide poor families an option to more expensive rise sold commercially.
“There are more than 10 million marginalized Filipinos who are dependent on government-subsidized rice,” Mr. Aquino said.
“As part of our stabilization mandate, we have to continue distributing rice at any given time to be able to respond to the high demand for cheap rice as the price of commercial rice has started to increase along with other commodities.”
In a separate statement, the NFA said it hopes to procure 1.2 million bags of unmilled rice, or palay, by May.
“Our palay procurement for March was higher, with most of our purchases coming from our NFA branches in Northern Cagayan-Apayao, Mindoro, Zamboanga del Sur, North Cotabato and Bukidnon,” Mr. Aquino said.
“Our target is to buy at least 10% of the total harvest to boost our food security buffer stocks, and bring back the P27.00 and P32.00/kilogram rice in the market.” — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
