Buffer stock of NFA rice reaches critical low, to last for only 8 more days

The National Food Authority's (NFA) buffer stock of rice for the entire country has reached a critical low as it only has eight more days worth of rice bags left in its warehouses.

A report by GMA News' Lei Alviz on Balitanghali cited a warehouse in Quezon City which supplies both the city and Manila City, but only has 19,000 sacks left.

According to the NFA, the required buffer stock should be enough for at least 15 days or half a month. During the rainy season — when planting rice gets much harder as farms get flooded — the stock should last for an even longer 30 days.

The NFA is currently waiting for an approval for a government-to-government importation of an initial rice stock of 250,000 metric tons from Thailand and China to plug the shortage.

Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan said they were hoping the harvest season would also help augment the country's rice supply in addition to these imports.

"We want to believe na kung may harvest season po tayo ay meron po tayong stock," Cayanan said.

However, the NFA is reluctant to solely rely on local farmers as their buying price of P22 per kilo is far more expensive than the NFA's P17 per kilo buying price for unhusked rice or palay.

Retailers are already feeling the effects of the rice shortage as prices per sack have increased by P50 while waiting for a P1 increase on each kilo of rice.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol initially blocked the request to import rice to avoid coinciding with the harvest season.

He also recommended the creation of a task force to prove that the alleged rice shortage in the country is merely a rumor used by cartels to manipulate the price of rice.

Piñol said he could sense of rice traders and cartels are trying to create an artificial shortage of the staple crop. "Those hoarding rice should be charged with economic sabotage." — Rie Takumi/MDM, GMA News