DA puts up rice, fish markets in Zamboanga, Bohol

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture has opened a rice market in Zamboanga and fish market in Bohol  as part of efforts to slowly bring down prices of basic commodities in these areas.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said they have rolled out the TienDA Bigasan ng Masa in Zamboanga where consumers can buy freshly-milled rice at P32 per kilogram and newly-shipped NFA rice at P27 per kg.

“Families will be allowed to buy five kg of NFA rice each while the DA freshly milled rice will be sold at P32 per kg with a limit of three kg per family,” Piñol said.

Commercial rice coming from private traders shipped from the Northern Mindanao, Caraga, Davao and Central Mindanao will also be sold at slightly higher prices.

“This Bigasan ng Masa marks the end of the rice crisis in Zamboanga City which followed the closure of the routes for rice smuggling coming from Sabah which for so long was the source of the rice supplies of nearby provinces,” Piñol said.

The DA assured that commercial rice prices are expected to go down in the next two weeks as harvest goes into full swing.

“In addition to the fresh harvests from Zamboanga Sibugay, farmers from Zamboanga del Sur and North Cotabato are also starting to mill their crops for the season,” Piñol said.

“Harvest in the rest of Mindanao will start by October until early December and early indications show that the production of rice will be good for this season,” he added.

Meanwhile, the DA staged anew its TienDA Fish Market in Tagbilaran City with an estimated 20 metric tons of fish to be sold at much lower prices.

Fish supplies from Zamboanga Peninsula and Eastern Visayas will be sold.

The Bohol Fish Market will be opened every weekend until a permanent site is ready in the Baclayon Fish Port Area owned by the Philippine Fishports Development Authority.

“The Bohol Fish Market in Baclayon which is expected to be opened in one month will also feature restaurants and eateries where buyers of fresh sea products could have their fish cooked right in front of them,” Piñol said.

The Department of Transportation has already committed to provide at least two reefer vans to serve as storage facilities of products coming from other provinces and those harvested in the fishing grounds around Bohol.

“The staging of the Bohol Fish Market and its planned institutionalization is the DA’s response to the complaints of Boholanos of unreasonably high prices of fish and sea products sold in the province’s public markets,” he added.