Gov’t distributes 14.8-M bags of subsidized rice

The Arroyo administration has distributed 14.8 million bags of state-subsidized rice this year as part of government efforts to help low-income consumers cope with the unprecedented global food price shocks, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.

In a recent agribusiness forum hosted by the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAP), Yap reported that rice stocks of the National Food Authority (NFA), along with other basic commodities, were distributed and sold through 3,197 Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke, 8,080 Tindahan Natin outlets, 540 Bigasan sa Parokya, and 199 rolling stores nationwide.

Yap  said the DA has also established 108 Barangay Bagsakan or drop-off points — 36 in Metro Manila and 72 elsewhere in the country — plus 30 Bagsakan Centers that provide affordable basic food items to more than 504,350 households.

To date, the NFA’s total contracted imports stand at 2.3 million tons, of which 1.4 million tons have already arrived. The balance of 900,000 tons will be delivered on or before Sept. 30, Yap said.

From January to June 2008, the government spent P8.6 billion to bring P18.25-a-kilo rice to the poor through the Tindahan Natin outlets nationwide.

Yap  said the NFA has referred 66 cases of rice hoarding and profiteering to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution, of which 45 cases are now under preliminary investigation; three cases against businessmen were dismissed; and seven more cases, involving nine erring NFA officials, are pending at the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor.