(Eagle News) — Rice traders have pledged to give at least 700,000 sacks of rice to the government to replenish the stocks of the National Food Authority (NFA) which they will sell in Metro Manila at P39 per kilo.
This was confirmed by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque who also announced President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to place the NFA under the Office of the President.
The rice traders promised to deliver 100,000 sacks of rice weekly to the NFA until the government’s rice importations come in.
“In their meeting with the President, rice traders pledged to give at least 700,000 sacks of rice to replenish the NFA stocks sold at P38 per kilo to be sold at P39,” Roque said.
He said the President is also “considering the approval of rice importation to be centralized under the Office of Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, subject to the review of the Office of the Executive Secretary.”
Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol also revealed this in a social media post on Friday.
“Rice traders from Luzon last night (April 5) promised to President Rody Duterte that they will flood Metro Manila markets with newly-milled local rice to be sold at P39 per kilo,” he said.
He said that the first delivery of the rice traders of 100,000 bags will be channeled through the National Food Authority (NFA) which in turn will distribute the rice at P38 per kilo to its outlets in Metro Manila.”
“The rice outlets will sell rice at P39 per kilo for a profit of P50 per bag,” Piñol said.
“The traders said they will deliver 100,000 bags every week until the rice imported by the NFA will arrive in the country,” he said.
Piñol said the “pledge of sufficient low-cost rice supply by the traders came during the meeting with the President which I suggested during the last NFA Council meeting.”
During Thursday’s forum, President Duterte appealed to the rice traders “to be considerate in the pricing of rice so that consumers will not be hurt.”
“I know that you are all businessmen and that you have to make a profit but I am appealing to you not to overprice or hoard rice,” the President told the rice traders.
He said that the meeting also allowed the rice traders to share with President Duterte their problems, including extortion activties of Land Transportation Office personnel in a weighing scale station in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya.
“The President immediately acted on their concerns,” Piñol said.
(Eagle News Service)