NFA beefs-up rice stocks in Southern Mindanao

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=1&rid=919539
• Friday, September 2, 2016

(PNA), FPV/PR//RSM

MANILA, Sept. 2 (PNA) -- The National Food Authority has started shipping out part of the 500,000 bags of rice intended to boost the agency’s stocks in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), especially in areas affected by the ongoing government military operations against the bandit group, Abu Sayyaf.

NFA Officer-In-Charge Tomas R. Escarez said that the agency’s National Capital Region branch has started shipping out 300,000 bags directly to Maguindanao while the 200,000 bags will be shipped via Zamboanga City.

NFA local office in Zamboanga City will distribute the rice shipment to BASULTA area (Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi).

Escarez said that the rice shipment is intended to beef up the government food security stocks in the area. He assured that the government has sufficient rice stocks to avert any rice supply and price surges brought about by the intensified military operations in Southern Mindanao.

He added that the rice shipment will also be distributed by relief agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units (LGUs) to families displaced by the recent armed conflict.

Of the 300,000 bags rice shipment to Maguindanao, 23,200 bags have been delivered to NFA warehouses in the area, while 30,000 bags out of the 200,000 bags shipment intended for BASULTA already arrived at its destinations.

Meanwhile, NFA-ARMM has released earlier this year a total of 34,731 bags to relief agencies for distribution to farmers and their families affected by the El Niño Phenomenon that badly hit most parts of the country particularly provinces in Mindanao.