‘No more stinking NFA rice’

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines – The National Food Authority has vowed to provide the public with high-quality NFA rice.

“People complain that the NFA rice is of poor quality, foul-smelling and grayish. Now, our rice smells good and no longer looks dark,” NFA administrator Renan Dalisay said over the weekend.

He said the agency has addressed complaints about the NFA rice being of poor quality.

Dalisay made the assurance three weeks after some 400 bags of rotting NFA rice were discovered in the comfort rooms of the Evelio B. Javier gymnasium in San Jose, Antique.

He assured Novo Ecijanos that there is enough rice for them, both from the NFA and commercial outlets.

He said the NFA will continue to buy rice at P17.80 per kilo.

The NFA Council last month bared plans to import some 500,000 tons of rice to augment local stocks in preparation for the lean season, which starts in July.

Dalisay said the government is preparaing for the lifting of the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports in 2017, by trying to bring down production cost.

A QR is a limit imposed on the amount of an item or service that can be imported into a country to protect local produce and decrease or eliminate trade deficit.

“If by 2017, the cost of production remains high, our farmers may not be able to compete with rice imports, which will be without regulation and quota,” Dalisay said.