This prompted Navarro to come to Davao city on June 2 to verify. Navarro held a consultation with rice millers, wholesalers and retailers the following day, where retailers asked government to intervene and make available low priced rice to ease the pressure.
One of the suggested solutions was to increase the allocation in the city’s major markets from 15 to 45 bags per day and 40 bags per day in NFA outlets outside the downtown area.
But because of the long lines of people in NFA outlets, retailers also wanted cheaper grains to be made available in the market, he said.
Manoy Aurio Borja, 73, is grateful for the senior citizen’s line at the National Food Authority (NFA) rice retailer in Bankerohan. His legs, supported by a makeshift cane, could not endure the long lines at the NFA outlet. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
Since deregulation has wiped out price controls over rice prices, Cangrejo said, the most that the NFA can do is to “intervene” in the market by means of an auction.
Commercial retailers who purchased the NFA special grade rice at P32 a kilo are only allowed to sell it at P35 a kilo. But Cangrejo said there is no law that will “prevent these retailers from selling the imported rice at P50 a kilo.”
He said NFA personnel will step up monitoring of rice prices in the accredited retailers. Since the auction started on June 5, close to 100 retailers in the four major Davao markets have been accredited to sell the NFA special grade rice. He said NFA personnel monitoring the rice prices will ensure that the retail price of NFA rice will remain at P35 a kilo.
The repacked NFA rice available in commercial outlets is different from the subsidized NFA rice distributed in NFA outlets. Cangrejo said the auction will make available a much cheaper rice to those who do not want the long lines in NFA outlets, but who do not want to buy rice at the prevailing commercial price of P50 a kilo, either.
Prices for NFA subsidized rice sells at P18.50 a kilo for the Vietnam rice variety and P25 a kilo for the Thai rice variety.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) earlier conducted the raid to go after rice hoarders behind the soaring prices of rice in Mindanao but discovered the repacked NFA rice in the NFA warehouses in Tefasco wharf, instead. (Germelina Lacorte/davaotoday)
Food
