THE Philippines may conduct bidding as early as first week of March for the importation of 500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice, an official of the National Food Authority (NFA) said on Wednesday.

Lawyer Gilberto Lauengco, NFA spokesperson and member of the Bids and Awards Committee, said that they are just waiting for the approval of two more government agencies before they can give the go-signal for the tax-expenditure subsidy of the imported rice.

“Right now, we already have three signatures, we need two more. Hopefully, di na nila patagalin [it won’t be delayed] so we can start immediately with the bidding by first week of March,” Lauengco said in a telephone interview.

In order to effect the smooth implementation of the bidding process, Lauengco also noted said that the NFA will use the same general guidelines as that of last year for the information and compliance of all importers intending to apply for the bidding.

Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that the NFA Council has agreed to import an initial 500,000 MT of rice for 2012. Of that volume, half will be undertaken by the private sector and the other half through farmers’ cooperatives.

Alcala added that the NFA will not be involved in the importation, saying that there will be no government-to-government deal for now.

In 2011, the Philippines imported 860,000 MT of rice—with the private sector importing 600,000 MT while farmers’ groups imported 60,000 MT. On the other hand, NFA imported 200,000 MT of rice.