DIPOLOG CITY (PIA) – To ensure the implementation of the mandated price ceilings on regular-milled and well-milled rice in the market, the National Food Authority (NFA) in partnership with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) conducted a rice classification seminar on September 19 at the Zamboanga del Norte Convention and Exhibition Center, Estaka, this city.
Seminar participant categorizes grains of rice based on classification (e.i., regular-milled or well-milled) (Photo by: Provincial Information Center – ZaNorte)
Attendees of the said seminar included Municipal Agriculturists, members of the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
This initiative was conducted to ensure that the monitoring team is well-equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary in differentiating regular-milled and well-milled rice to aid the price monitoring in public markets.
During the seminar, participants were given mixed grains of rice they had to separate according to classification.
In her message delivered through Assistant Provincial Administrator Normal Alegarbes, Zamboanga del Norte Governor Rosalina “Nanay Nene” Jalosjos said that the rice classification is not only a requirement but a moral obligation of the provincial government to ensure the quality of rice for its citizens.
According to Provincial Agriculturist Maybel Bustaliño, Governor Jalosjos also called for Municipal Local Government Units throughout the province to reactivate their Local Price Coordinating Councils in order to aid the price monitoring in their locality.
Bustaliño also mentioned the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s cash assistance to over 170 small-time local rice retailers in the province to help them cope with the price mandate and ensure that they follow the executive order. (KSA/RVC/PJF/PIA9-Zamboanga del Norte)
