by L. Lopez

Tabuk City, Kalinga (21 July) -- The National Food Authority (NFA) continues to distribute cheaper government subsidized rice to authorized Tindahan Natin outlets (TNO) and Bigasan ng Bayan outlets (BBO) here.

NFA Assistant Provincial Manager Ric Baliang said their present buffer stock is enough to cover the food requirement of the province in the lean months starting this July until September.

Government provides cheaper rice for the nation under its mandate and sees to it that the supply reaches small families, who are primary beneficiaries of the Hunger Mitigation program.

In the province, NFA distributes rice at P825/sack or P18.25/ kilo to authorized outlets, which in turn retail it at P912.50 or P18.75.

On the other hand, regular commercial rice here dropped from P1,800/sack or P36/kilo to P1,750 or P35/kilo because the price of palay also went down from P21/kilo to P17/kilo.

One trader, who asked not to be identified, said the price of palay started to drop at the onset of the rain.

In the last season, the price of dry palay reached P23/kilo as influenced by the speculation of a rice crisis.

Though, the price trend of rice this time seemed prohibitive to small income families, the price of palay, however, delivered big relief to farmers who continue to bear the burden of high farming costs.

To provide balance to both sectors, farmers and consumers, government lays down its rice subsidy program through the NFA.

In some far-flung outlets, NFA rice is reportedly tagged at P21-23/kilo. Baliang said the increase maybe to defray transportation expense incurred by the operators. He assured, however, that should operators of NFA outlets take advantage of profiteering, their office will take the necessary action against those involved.