The National Food Authority (NFA) in Western Pangasinan has assured households in the province there are sufficient rice stocks amid the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine due to the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
In a phone interview Thursday, Chona Maramba, assistant manager of NFA Western Pangasinan, said they still have at least 325,210 sacks of rice in their warehouses composed of imported and commercial stocks.
“We have 143,587 imported and 181,623 (sacks of) commercial rice stocks in our warehouses and about 1.7 million stocks from households,” she said adding that supply will last for five months, or an equivalent of 150 days.
Maramba said the public should not panic because there is enough rice supply in the province.
“There should be no reason for panic-buying because we have enough rice supply in Western Pangasinan and even in the entire province,” she added.
Maramba said their office and warehouses are still open, especially to rice farmers wanting to sell their products, amid the stringent implementation of quarantine checkpoints in Luzon.
“We are open and still buying palay from farmers. In case they were flagged down, it is advised to bring with them and show the warehouse stamp receipt in checkpoints” she said.
Meanwhile, some local government units in the province have already bought sacks of NFA rice for their possible relief operations as the whole country was placed in a state of calamity amid the Covid-19 outbreak in some areas. (PNA)
