By FREDDIE G. LAZARO

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – The National Food Authority regional office has warned all its accredited outlets of revocation of their licenses if they are found violating the guidelines in selling government rice.

NFA Regional Director Joseph Dela Cruz said that 60 “Palengke Watch Teams” have been deployed on daily basis to various markets in the region to monitor and apprehend violators of the guidelines.

The move is in consonance with the directive of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to ensure the visibility of NFA rice in the market, Dela Cruz said.

Violations included the diversion and overpricing of NFA rice, unreasonable deviation and refusal to sell, selling NFA rice as commercial rice, and of NFA rice with inferior quality.

“There are about 610 NFA accredited rice outlets regionwide selling government rice at P18.25 per kilo.

The need to monitor and inspect these outlets has become imperative because of reports that some outlets are diverting and overpricing the rice due to the wide price gap between NFA rice and commercial rice at P27 to P30 per kilogram, “Dela Cruz told.

He disclosed that his office is presently implementing the delivery of rice allocation of outlets right at their stalls in markets to prevent the diversion and selling of NFA rice as commercial rice.

“We are also repacking rice into one and two kilogram plastic bags to easily identified NFA rice stocks,” he added.

At the same time, Dela Cruz appealed to consumers to report immediately to the different NFA provincial offices in the region any violations committed by outlets in selling government rice.

Meanwhile, Dela Cruz also reported that NFA
Region One has 600,000 bags of rice stored in its warehouses.

In addition, another 280,000 bags of imported rice from Vietnam had been unloaded at Poro Point in San Fernando City, La Union last April 5.

“A total of two million bags of imported rice is allocated to Region one and Cordillera region to further ensure the availability and sufficiency of rice during the lean months starting July to September this year,” Dela Cruz said.

Dela Cruz noted that NFA in Region 1 does not only serve its four provinces but also the Cordillera region to include Baguio City and Abra.