MANILA – The current stock of National Food Authority (NFA) rice is enough to cover and sustain the P20 per kilogram subsidized rice program until the end of the year.
According to Department of Agriculture (DA) spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa, the current NFA inventory stands at 400,000 metric tons (MT), which is equivalent to 250 million kilograms of rice.
“At 10 kilos per individual per month, that’s about 1.2 million kilos per month,” De Mesa said in an interview with DZBB. “Sa supply, meron tayo sa NFA ngayon, currently at 400,000 metric tons.”
“So ang initial na ina-allocate diyan ay 250,000 metric tons at puwede pang madagdagan ‘yan. So ‘yung 1.2 million kilos can easily be supplied nitong programa natin, assuming hanggang December. This can easily be supplied,” he added.
The P20 per kilogram rice program is currently being rolled out to vulnerable sectors, and has been recently expanded to minimum wage earners. Households of qualified beneficiaries may purchase up to 30 kilograms of rice per month.
Aside from the P20 per kilogram rice program, the DA has also rolled out rice at P29 to P33 per kilogram in Kadiwa stores.
“Kasi yung last inventory natin [noong] December, puwede tayong itawid hanggang anihan; tapos nag-anihan tayo, so we have sufficient supply hanggang sa susunod na harvest in time sa ating lean months, normally mid-July, mid-July or mid-August,” De Mesa said.
“[The rice imports] plus ‘yung harvest natin na ongoing sa ibang lugar, we have sufficient, at coming pa sa imbentaryo natin last December na ending inventory natin, we have sufficient rice,” he added./PN
