THE National Food Authority (NFA) confirmed that they are purchasing a limited supply of palay from local farmers for their buffer stocks in preparation for possible calamities in the country.
This is despite the NFA raising its procurement price for palay.
According to NFA Acting Administrator Larry Lacson, only 117,000 metric tons of palay have been purchased so far.
This is far from the nearly half a million metric tons of palay that the NFA is capable of buying from local farmers.
However, the NFA is optimistic about reaching the target buffer stocks for the upcoming wet season.
Lacson said that they still need funds for palay procurement for the next year.
“P16.35 billion is allocated for 2025. It’s solely for procuring palay from our farmers. This is because our target there is 545,000 metric tons of palay, which we simply multiplied by our current highest buying price. So, that’s the funding we’re requesting for 2025,” according to Larry Lacson, Acting Administrator, NFA.
He added, this is sufficient to fund rice that can be used in times of calamity or urgent need, especially with the onset of La Niña or the rainy season, where multiple typhoons are possible.
However, NFA may face problems in 2025 if the necessary funds are not provided.
“If the full amount is not provided, our options are, one, to reduce the volume of our purchases, or two, to lower the price of the palay we’ll buy. So, those are the only two possible actions we can take to adjust to whatever budget will be allocated to us next year. Definitely, if it’s not provided, the volume of our buffer stock will suffer,” Lacson added.
Hence, the NFA is calling for support.
“Perhaps, it could go like this: Anyway, NFA’s mandate is buffer stocking. We’re just planning for the rice buffer stock for 2025, hoping that it will be provided to us,” Lacson said.
As for the controversial plan to amend the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which aims to return the mandate of selling cheap rice to the market but some senators have rejected it, expressing their lack of trust in the NFA, they believe that it could once again be a source of corruption.
Lacson, on the other hand, understands the senators’ disappointment with the NFA’s performance, particularly regarding the agency’s involvement in some corruption issues.
“No matter who you put in that position, they couldn’t say with certainty, “I can assure there will be no corruption – that’s a tall order. My only response is that I will do my best as the acting administrator to implement measures and change some of the standard operating procedures to eliminate or at least minimize to a very minimal degree the possible opportunities for corruption,” he stressed.
