Photo courtesy of Joan Bondoc-PNA.
QUEZON CITY (PIA) — The National Food Authority (NFA) has continued to release sacks of rice to areas hit hardest by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami), even as it assured the Filipinos that the agency has enough supply of the staple until the end of the year.
In an interview on PTV4, Department of Agriculture (DA) Asec. Arnel De Mesa said, “The NFA has continued to release rice for the areas affected by storm Kristine. Around 500 sacks of rice are allocated for each area of relief operation in Sorsogon and Catanduanes in the Bicol region.”
Earlier, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said that he has activated all their warehouses to immediately respond to requests in affected areas.
“Lahat ng NFA offices ngayon bukas (All of the NFA offices are now open). I have instructed everyone to be on alert, provide assistance, kahit hindi bigas, kahit sasakyan (not just rice, but also vehicles) or whatever, especially in Region V (Bicol Region). Dapat ang ating gobyerno ay (The government must be) responsive,” he said in an earlier report from PIA.
Enough rice supply
DA assured the public that the country’s rice inventory could last for 100 days.
“Because of the arrival of rice imports and the expected arrival of more imported rice, and based on historical trend, it is possible that our stock inventory could last for 100 days. So, its after the end of the year. Hindi tayo nangangamba that our stocks would run out,” Asec. De Mesa said.
As of the moment, we have around 400 million sacks of rice in our NFA inventory, he added.
Meanwhile, the DA expressed confidence that storm Kristine could not deal a huge toll on our croplands, as 60 to 70 percent of the crops, especially rice, in the regions threatened by the storm were already mature and were harvested early on, upon the advice of DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., days prior to the storm’s onslaught.
“Nakapag-advise kaagad si Sec. Tiu Laurel to our regional offices to carry out harvesting. Besides, some farmers planted early for the second and third cropping seasons—about 15 percent of them. So, DA believes that the damage will not be as huge as feared,” De Mesa said.
On the other hand, the DA said that farm inputs such as rice seeds and fertilizer have been prepositioned and ready for distribution to farmers affected by STS Kristine. (PIA DMD)
