Accredited retail outlets of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Palawan can still sell rice until August, its provincial manager said.
NFA provincial manager Engr. Alwin Uy said Friday they still have around 26,000 bags of milled rice to sell to the accredited outlets until August.
But after August, he said they will have to wait for the instruction of the regional office.
“Sa ngayon, ang definite pa lang ay hanggang August [may stock]. After August, maghihintay pa kami kasi we take our orders from the regional office. So ‘yong regional office from the central office naman aasa na nanggagaling din ‘yan sa NFA Council,” he said.
Uy said if an order is passed down from their regional office telling them to continue selling, that is when they will start milling the unhusked rice they have so consumers can purchase them from the retailing outlets.
He said their 26,000 bags of rice for the mainland include the March 6 arrival of 20,000 imported from Thailand.
“Doon sa market participation namin na 10 percent, aabot naman siya huwag lang magkaroon ng panic buying ang mga tao, maaaring kulang siya. Pero kung normal na condition lang, normal situation, kakasya siya hanggang August,” he said.
Uy said the NFA has a weekly allocation plan on how many bags will be distributed in accredited retailing outlets which would depend on the number of rice bags available.
He said the NFA Palawan has a weekly allocation of 25 bags for accredited retail outlets in the old and new public markets.
“So far, ‘yong ginawa naming weekly allocation plan, lumalabas siya na 25 bags ‘yong maximum issuance sa ibang retailers natin na nasa palengke, ‘yong iba mas mababa ng kaunti,” he pointed out.
The NFA has 89 accredited retailing outlets in mainland area and 76 in the Calamianes group of islands.
NFA Palawan currently has a total of 7,298 bags of palay of which 4,974 procured during February.
Uy said some accredited retailing outlets from the island municipalities are getting their stocks from the mainland.
As of now, the agency has no supply of rice for the Calamian Group of Islands.
