00:00Some local governments started to sell the Abutkayang Bigas of the National Food Authority.
00:06Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture confirmed that the supply of NFA rice is sufficient for those who can afford to buy it.
00:14This is Isaiah Mirafuentes' story.
00:19Early in the morning, Tate Enselmo immediately lined up at the driveway of San Juan City Hall.
00:24This is for him to be able to buy rice of a lower price but of good quality from the National Food Authority.
00:42Before this happened, he was buying rice for 60 pesos per kilo in the market.
00:47That's when he found out that there's 33 pesos worth of rice in their city hall, he immediately agreed.
00:54In San Juan City, the sale of Abutkayang NFA rice started today.
00:59This is after the city showed interest in selling Abutkayang Bigas from the National Food Authority.
01:06For 1,650 pesos per sack or 50 kilos, local governments can buy rice from the NFA.
01:14That's equivalent to 33 pesos per kilo.
01:18It can be sold by the LGU for up to 35 pesos per kilo.
01:22Today is the first day of its sale in San Juan City Hall.
01:25The rice was placed in the hallway of their municipality.
01:28And it was sold per sack.
01:31For now, we sell per sack but we can adjust accordingly if there's a demand.
01:39Our initial 1,000 sacks are fully allocated because we pre-registered.
01:45Zamora also bought rice from the Metro Manila Council, which is run by the city mayors of NCR,
01:50hoping that the LGUs will not increase the minimum price of NFA rice.
01:55This program is also supported by the Department of Agriculture despite the high price of rice in the market.
02:02This is also the result of the declaration of the National Food Emergency on rice.
02:07The DA also promised that the rice supply will be sufficient from the National Food Authority.
02:13We have a lot of stocks in Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Campanga, and Isabela.
02:21It's ready to ship here anytime.
02:24Our limitation is 150,000 sacks.
02:27That's the warehouse here in Venezuela.
02:30As it is depleted, it is going to be replenished.
02:33The DA believes that this program will be the reason to lower the price of rice in the markets.
02:40Meanwhile, because of the losses of rice in a Kadiwa store in Quezon City,
02:45the government is more committed to maintain the rice supply.
02:49Aside from Metro Manila, it is also expected that cheaper rice will be sold in the provinces.
02:55Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, and Isabela are already on the line.
03:01Isaiah Mirfuentes for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.
