By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz
Some unscrupulous individuals have been found marketing a huge volume of alleged National Food Authority (NFA) rice stocks that is being sold much higher than its actual price, the government said on Monday.
(ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
NFA Administrator Judy Carol Dansal has warned the public against transacting with unauthorized persons selling NFA rice in bulk purportedly for relief operations.
"As custodian of government rice buffer stocks intended for distribution during calamity or emergency situations, the NFA transacts only directly with local government units (LGUs), government relief agencies, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and some legislators buying rice for their own relief operations," Dansal said.
The agency has recently monitored online transactions on Facebook between an alias "Jennifer" and a certain DB Lorraine de Borja with their respective clients offering NFA rice at P1,550 per 50-kilogram (kg) sack with pick up points in Bulacan and Manila.
In her Facebook post, De Borja indicated she had 500,000 sacks of NFA rice available in Bulacan and posted a picture of NFA rice in sacks and a sample of the loose grains.
NFA officials in Bulacan and Manila denied knowing these persons nor of any warehouse in their respective areas stocked with NFA rice.
Dansal has clarified that NFA rice stocks for relief operations, being sold at only P1,250 per 50-kg sack, are freshly-milled from locally-procured palay and not imported rice from Vietnam as stated in the social media post.
"We are thus warning our good Samaritans and civic organizations out there who may be looking for NFA rice for their relief operations to refrain from falling prey to these people," Dansal said.