Eastern Samar to get enough rice – NFA

By ALICE NICART (PIA Eastern Samar)
March 26, 2008

BORONGAN CITY, Samar  –  Eastern Samar province will have enough “NFA rice” supply and there shall be no reason to panic as may be feared by many. This was the assurance made by National Food Authority (NFA) Assistant Provincial Director, Atty. Arturo Macabasag in a phone interview.

Macabasag reported that NFA is just about to finish unloading the 18,000 bags of rice in Guiuan town and another 20,000 for Oras follows while Borongan will get some 20,000 in April.

The interview was prompted by the several reports seen on national television networks and radio stations that government is proactively taking actions to address a looming rice shortage.

At the national scene, Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture early Tuesday morning announced over DZRH that the country will have enough rice; Vietnam has in fact committed already to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that it will allocate a good volume of rice for the Filipinos in the succeeding months he said.  The government’s move is apparently relative to the projected reduction in farm produce as a result of the recent natural calamities that hit the several parts of the country. Yap likewise said that the reduced palay harvest is attributed to the climate change that primarily affects agriculture but he added that the government is doing its best to mitigate the impeding decreased rice production.

Yap added that NFA is only one source of the country’s rice requirements and he is still hopeful the rice producing farmers will still be able to produce the staple food sufficiently.

Governor Ben Evardone for Eastern Samar has been moving himself to mitigate the effect of the massive flooding that hit the province recently. In previous conferences with the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PPDC) he ruled to subsidize the 50% cost of farm equipment that DA-OPAS has previously loaned to farmers; also he has instructed the said office to facilitate the availability of quality seedlings or the Hybrid rice to farmers.  He likewise reported over Radyo ng Bayan DYES on Tuesday that he is taking priority concern on Farm-to-Market roads most of which were affected by the heavy rains and flood. This way, he said, farmers will still be able to have easier access to and from their farms.

Evardone also sees to it that the “Tindahan Natin” (TN) outlets are always made operational for the ordinary household.  Some 17 TN stores are so far still open for the NFA rice and in his recent statement he said that he is even hoping more TNs will be opened in the near future as promised by Her Excellency President Gloria Arroyo when she visited the province last November.