The National Food Authority (NFA) Palawan has released a total of 500 bags of rice to residents affected by Storm Crising and heavy rains from the enhanced southwest monsoon (habagat) rains.
Officer-in-charge (OIC) Branch Manager Julius Lopez said that the Puerto Princesa City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) initially requested to withdraw 200 bags, while the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) requested 300 bags last Saturday, July 19.
The bags of rice were supplied by NFA warehouses located in Puerto Princesa City and Brooke’s Point.
“Ang ating mga bigas ay nakakasiguro na fit for human consumption at ang ini-issue namin ay yong zero to three months, pinakabagong giling ang binibigay namin pagdating sa calamity at emergency,” he said.
The agency’s quality assurance officers have already checked the quality of supplies prior to the issuance, Lopez assured the public.
Lopez also assured the public that there is sufficient stock of rice in their warehouse to cater to the requests of the local government units (LGUs) in the province.
The beneficiaries of the rice supplies will be determined by CDRRMO in Puerto Princesa City and PDRRMO in Palawan.
CDRRMO has remaining 440 bags to withdraw, while 200 bags are for the PDRRMO.
The last procurement of supply from NFA was due to the impact of shearline experienced across the province in February. It resulted in flooding, including in some barangays of Puerto Princesa City.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Government of Palawan has already delivered the 3,089 family food packs as augmentation support to five heavily impacted towns, including Culion, Busuanga, Roxas, El Nido, and Aborlan.
The municipalities of Culion and Busuanga had already received their food packs on July 19, with a number of 500 food packs for each town.
The Palawan Provincial Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is now back to normal operations under white-alert status, as announced on July 20. The recent data reports 6,770 affected families in Palawan or 28,197 individuals from different parts of the province. (PIA)
