— The National Food Authority (NFA) has announced that it will be selling some 25,000 tons of its rice monthly to local government units (LGUs) for their disaster preparedness program.

NFA administrator Larry Lacson made the announcement amidst rising costs of prime commodities while giving assurance that the monthly release of NFA rice to LGUs would not affect the buffer stock required to respond to emergencies, calamities or the declaration of a national food emergency.

"The NFA needs additional funds to perform its functions after Republic Act 12078, or the amended Rice Tariffication Law, mandated the agency to ensure a buffer stock of 15 days from the previous nine-day requirement," Lacson cited.

The NFA administrator clarified that with national rice consumption averaging 37,000 tons daily, the additional six days of reserves would require the NFA to procure approximately 300,000 tons of palay from local farmers.

“We were initially allocated ₱9 billion for buffer stocking this year based on the nine-day requirement. But the additional six days will necessitate another ₱9 billion for palay procurement as our price procurement increased in 2024,” he noted.

Under the law, ₱2 billion has been allotted for the NFA's rice procurement, which will be sourced from rice tariffs in excess of the P30 billion allocated to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.

The DA said that the palay procurement will account for up to 20 percent of the country’s total domestic production, or at least four million tons compared to the current rate of approximately four percent.