NFA admits rice shortage in south Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - The National Food Authority (NFA) admitted Tuesday a rice "shortage" in Southern Mindanao, where rice prices went up to as high as P50 a kilo. NFA spokesman Rex Estoperez said the supply shortfall hit some 400,000 metric tons, prompting the area to get its supply from Iloilo, Central Mindanao and even Metro Manila. "Noong nakaraang mga season pala, yung ating Southern Mindanao meron na talagang deficit na mga 400,000 metric tons. Ang nagsu-supply sa kanila na Central Mindanao, 40,000 lang ang surplus, so talagang kukulangin sila (In the last season, Southern Mindanao had a shortage of 400,000 metric tons. It had to get its supply from Central Mindanao, which at the time had a surplus of only 40,000 metric tons)," Estoperez said in an interview on dwIZ radio. He said other rice supplies also came from Iloilo and Metro Manila, which he said was carrying high price tag due to transportation cost. The revelation belied repeated claims by President Gloria Arroyo and agriculture secretary Arthur Yap of a bountiful rice harvest, at least in Southern Mindanao. Estoperez said NFA administrator Jessup Navarro had flown to Mindanao to get a detailed report on the rice situation there. But he insisted that the P50-per-kilo rice was the commercial variety, and not the NFA-subsidized rice. According to him, the NFA will now "inject" supplies of subsidized rice priced at P18.25 and P25 per kilo to the markets there to prevent price speculation and manipulation. "Gagawin natin ngayon i-adopt ang strategy sa Metro Manila. Mag-i-introduce tayo ng P25 mid-price at ituloy ang P18.25 (We will adopt the plan we implemented in Metro Manila. We will introduce the P25 mid-price rice from Thailand and America and continue to sell the P18.25/kilo rice)," he said. In the meantime, Estoperez appealed to households to stop engaging in "household hoarding," including lining up for NFA rice more than once a day. "Huwag magsayang ng bigas, at ang sa pila huwag bumalik-balik ... Sana huwag ganoon kasi masisira ang ating normal na distribution (Don't waste rice and don't line up more than once a day. We hope everyone will cooperate because this is disrupting our normal distribution flow)," he said. Meanwhile, Estoperez reiterated his warning to rice dealers not to engage in hoarding and price manipulation, lest the NFA revive police "visitations" of warehouses. He said tapping the police and National Bureau of Investigation is a "last resort" for the NFA. "Ayaw natin mangyari yan at ayaw natin sa madaling panahon. Pakiusap natin normal ang pagbenta (We don't want to resort to that. So we are asking them nicely not to hoard)," he said. - GMANews.TV