Members of the Rice Millers Association of Bulacan have agreed to sell P38 per kilo of commercial and imported rice to selected depressed areas in Bulacan starting on Thursday.
This was agreed by the millers during a press briefing on Tuesday held at the Bulacan NFA office in Barangay Tikay in the City of Malolos attended by the officials and members of the Bulacan Rice Millers association.
Roderico Sulit, spokesperson of the association, said the rice to be sold are mixed class of 15 and 25 percent of commercial and imported broken grains from Vietnam and Thailand.
Initially, the said rice will be sold in the relocation sites in the towns of Balagtas in Northville, Barangay Santol on Thursday, Northville in Bocaue on Friday, Northville in Marilao on Monday and Northville in the City of Malolos on Tuesday, Sulit said.
Sulit said, each relocation sites will be allocated 150 sacks of rice that will be sold at three to five kilos per consumers.
Marianne Pualengco, from Jomaro Rice Mill clarified that the association’s move to sell P38 per kilo of rice is part of their efforts to help people in depressed area to procure affordable rice as the country faces spiraling cost of the staple commodity.
On the other hand, Elvira Obana, NFA-Bulacan manager, said that rice allocations to accredited rice retailers in Bulacan is now boosted with the arrival of two shiploads of rice from Subic Bay and National Capital Region and ready to be unloaded.
“This is timely and we are thankful with the effort of the rice millers in Bulacan in addressing to the present rice price problem,” Obana said.
The NFA is targeting a 16 percent market participation in the local rice trade in Bulacan with the arrival of the rice shipment and will be distributed to its more than 300 rice accredited retailers spread throughout the province.
Meanwhile Mayette Sulit of Maunlad Rice Mill said that they are still studying the possibility of providing P39 per kilo rice to depressed areas in Metro Manila as requested by Trade and Industry Sec. Ramon Lopez on Monday when the Department of Trade and Industry conducted costing analysis of rice traders in Bocaue town.
Since the harvest season has now started, rice prices will be starting to stabilize in the coming weeks and hopefully normal rice situations be back by the month of October.