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Friday, March 29, 2024

NFA asked to look into high rice prices in Zambo

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The chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations on Wednesday urged the National Food Authority to look into the alleged price manipulation by rice traders in Mindanao.

NFA asked to look into high rice prices in Zambo
HIGH RICE PRICES. The price of commercial rice (shown in this photo at Paco Market) next month will be higher, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Norman Cruz

Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, the panel’s chairman, made the call following reports of what he described as ‘‘abnormally’’ high rice prices in Zamboanga City, where the prices of the staple grain ranges from P55 to P68 per kilo.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Nograles said the average retail price of a kilo of regular milled rice in the country is P42.26, while the average retail price of well-milled rice is P45.71 per kilo.

“Even accounting for less than optimal weather conditions, the discrepancy of the prices in the Zamboanga Peninsula is huge. Prices like these put a huge strain on the limited budgets of families who just want to have three square meals a day. The NFA should check if something illegal is going on,” Nograles said.

Nograles, a Mindanaoan, was in Zamboanga earlier this week to help facilitate the release and distribution of NFA rice in Zamboanga City. NFA rice is P27 a kilo and is the most affordable rice variety in the market.

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“Some 120,000 bags or 6,000 metric tons of rice were allocated by the NFA for Region IX. This will help stabilize the soaring prices of local commercial rice since the consumers would have more choices of rice to choose from,” said Nograles.

The NFA said the current scarcity of rice in the country is due to the spate of bad weather which has affected both rice production and the shipment of the food staple, he said.

“What is worse, the information relayed to me is that unscrupulous traders are hoarding more rice, thereby driving up prices further. They are manipulating the market in their favor but this is making ‘probinsyanos’ suffer. The NFA must find out if this practice occurs in Zamboanga City alone or in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula,” Nograles said.

Rotting rice

Meanwhile, the NFA said that 133,000 sacks of rice were infested with rice weevils in the Subic Freeport  Zone.

The rice came from Thailand and arrived at the Freeport last Aug. 2, NFA said.

The sacks of rice remain with the supplier which should bear the cost of fumigation, NFA said.  It would take from 7 to 12 days to kill the weevils.

NFA said it was natural for rice to be infested with weevils but the pests have to be killed first before the sacks could be transported from the warehouses. 

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