The Food and Terminal Inc. (FTI) and the National Food Authority (NFA) on Thursday assured that efforts are in place to resolve “logistics hiccups” for the expansion of the PHP20 per kilogram rice program in the country.
The program, dubbed “Benteng Bigas Meron Na,” is being rolled out in 32 Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) Centers and stalls in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
The rollout in Luzon started on May 13 after the Department of Agriculture (DA) adhered to the assistance ban 10 days before the May 12 midterm elections.
The pilot rollout of the P20/kg rice program was held in Cebu on May 1.
In a media interview, FTI president Joseph Lo said they are continuously procuring trucks and other vehicles for easier delivery of NFA rice stocks from warehouses to KNP sites.
“Ongoing naman po iyong mga improvements na ginagawa natin katulad sa mga meetings natin weekly (The improvements that we are doing like in our weekly meetings are ongoing),” he said.
To date, he said, 15 out of the 30 target vehicles have already been purchased for the three-phase implementation of the program nationwide.
For Luzon alone, Lo said they need 30 drivers; while talks with other local government units (LGUs) are underway to plan logistics setup in Visayas and Mindanao.
For its part, the NFA said it is working on the flexibility of shipment delivery for NFA rice stocks.
“So, I’m making the contract na medyo (somehow) flexible. So kung manggagaling ng Mindoro, dapat pwede siyang maka-deliver kahit saan (So, if it will come from Mindoro, it should be allowed to deliver anywhere else),” said NFA Administrator Larry Lacson, citing that shipment of NFA stocks is part of their operational costs.
The NFA has started unloading 35,000 bags of NFA soon-to-age and aging well-milled rice in Cebu port from Mindoro, with the next batch of the same volume being prepped.
To date, Lacson said there are 400,000 bags of NFA rice allocated for the pilot rollout in the Visayas region, while some 248,000 bags are available in the Valenzuela warehouse for the distribution in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
The DA said it will expand the program in 55 KNP sites in Metro Manila in June and roll out its Phase 2 and Phase 3 in July and September, respectively, which will include areas in Mindanao. (PNA)