NFA budget hike sought

THE NATIONAL Food Authority (NFA) on Wednesday sought additional funding to rent more warehouses for its buffer stocking needs.

“We are now looking at private warehouses, but because our budget is limited, we are looking for support from the President through an Executive Order,” NFA Administrator Larry R. Lacson said in a Senate committee hearing, in Filipino.

He added that the additional funds will be used to increase the NFA’s storage facilities for rice stocks.

Mr. Lacson said that the agency has already exhausted the local government units that could lend their warehouses.

“In fact, the warehouses that were lent to us turned out to be evacuation centers, so when storms hit, they still wanted to evict us,” he added.

The NFA procures locally produced rice buffer stocking in cases of emergencies and national calamities. It is required to maintain a rice reserve equivalent to about 15 days’ demand.

Mr. Lacson said that the current NFA stock is equivalent to around 12 days of local demand.

He added that the agency still has about P6 billion in funds to procure 4 million bags of local rice. — Adrian H. Halili