Senator Cynthia Villar today said that the National Food Authority (NFA) will still sell rice at prices lower than commercial rice to serve the needs of the lower income families.
Sen. Villar, who is the principal author of the Rice Tariffication Act which was passed by the Bi-Cameral Committee recently, issued the clarification following reports that the NFA may not be able to sell rice at P27 per kilo since it will be buying palay from local farmers at P17 per kilo plus an incentive of P3.70.
Yesterday, during the year-end report of the Department of Agriculture attended by members of the media, I was asked if NFA could still sell rice at P27 per kilo.
I pointed out that unless government subsidises the NFA rice, it cannot be sold at P27 per kilo because it would mean a loss of P9 per kilo for the government grains agency.
However, I clarified that the NFA could still sell rice at the current price if government will subsidize it.
During the Senate hearing of the NFA budget, Acting NFA Administrator Tomas Escarez said that the ideal selling price of NFA rice sourced from local farmers should be between P35 to P36 per kilo.
Sen. Villar, however, issued the assurance that even with the passage of the rice tariffication, Government will still ensure the availability of government subsidized rice in the market.
Under the rice tariffication act, the NFA will no longer be allowed to import rice for its buffer stocks and market participation.
This is a provision which is supported by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the rice stakeholders who both agree that NFA should focus on local procurement to benefit the farmers.
Buying from local farmers, however, means that the selling price of NFA rice will have to be adjusted to prevent massive financial losses on the part of the agency.
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