After being able to procure only 28,000 cavans of palay, or a measly 15 percent of the 180,000 cavans targeted, during the last quarter of 2004, the National Food Authority (NFA) based in this province has said it would get an allocation from NFA warehouses in La Union to augment the low rice stock of Ilocos Norte.

NFA Provincial Manager Alexander C. Galvez made this announcement after he conferred with Ilocos Norte Governor Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on the province’s rice situation.

During his visit at the Provincial Capitol, Galvez explained to Marcos that the low procurement accomplishment of the Ilocos Norte NFA was due to the “high ex-farm prices of palay compared to the government support price of P10 per kilogram.”

According to Galvez, the procured palay during the last quarter of last year was for the coming lean months from July to September.

However the procured 28,000 cavans of palay will only last four days if it would be based on the province’s daily consumption requirement of 4,625 bags but would last for 108 days if this would be based on the NFA’s daily average sales.

In view of this, Galvez told Marcos that the provincial NFA office is planning to get an allocation of the imported rice presently stored at NFA warehouses in San Juan, La Union to augment the province’s rice stocks.

During the same visit, Galvez also informed Marcos that the NFA had started its procurement for palay and yellow corn in January of this year.

Appraised of the situation, Marcos immediately gave his approval to the agency to transfer imported rice from La Union to the province.

In a related development, NFA officials also announced that they are exempt from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Administrative Order calling for a four-day workweek.

The Ilocos Norte NFA office would continue serving the public five days a week from 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon.

According to them, NFA was exempted because the agency is among the frontline service providers of the government especially during times of calamities and emergencies.

Galvez further said that the NFA should always be open to serve the public so they could always monitor rice supply and prices in the market.

Criselda A. Sarte