The state-run National Food Authority (NFA) on Tuesday gave assurances that it has sufficient stocks ready for issuance to relief agencies and local government units (LGUs) in areas hit by calamities.

NFA Administrator Jason Aquino instructed the agency’s field offices to be ready to render service 24/7 when necessary to be able to quickly respond to any need for rice.

“During this time when typhoons and flooding are forecast in many parts of the country, our employees can be counted upon to man our offices and warehouses in order to assure our countrymen of available rice at any given time,” Aquino said.

The NFA will no longer run out of stocks especially for any calamity or emergency, he added.

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“We have already prepositioned our stocks in all provinces. We have secured stocks for island provinces easily isolated by typhoons, flooding and landslides as well as other calamity-prone areas,” Aquino pointed out.

“We assure everyone that NFA rice will be available anywhere when needed,” he said.

The NFA activates its 24-hour Operations Center during occurrence of natural disasters to assure quick response for rice needs.

Market monitoring is also heightened to ensure that rice will continuously be available and to avert any unreasonable spike in prices.

As of July 16, a total of 197,400 metric tons or 3.9 million bags of rice have been delivered out of the NFA’s

250,000 MT rice importation from Vietnam and Thailand via government-to-government procurement.

The balance of 52,600 MT is expected to arrive before end of July.

Data from the NFA showed that the Philippines’ rice consumption is expected to hit 14.08 million MT this year, way above the projected production of 12.26 million MT.

On Friday, the NFA expressed its intention to import an additional 500,000 MT of rice to boost its inventory and ensure the availability of low-priced rice for the rest of the year.

Aquino said the grains agency was targeting an October arrival for the shipments, which he described as “back-up plan” to prevent a repeat of an inventory depletion.

He added that the proposal will be submitted to the NFA Council, the highest governing body of the grains agency, and a decision could be made by next month.

Under the law, the NFA is mandated to have at least 15 days’ worth of consumption at any given time and 30-day buffer during lean season, which starts in July and ends in September.