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CEBU CITY, Philippines - The National Food Authority (NFA) retailers in Cebu have started selling limited volumes of rice to buyers, by marking fingernails to prevent repeat customers.
The NFA has also tapped two parishes and increased rice allocations for Tindahan Natin (TN, Our Store) outlets to serve the growing number of people lining up to buy rice, said NFA 7 regional enforcement and investigation officer Edgar Diez.
Diez said two parishes, one in Barangay (village) Mabolo, Cebu City and the other in Bogo City, started distributing rice to consumers through the ?Tindahan sa Parokya? (Parish Stores).
The NFA regional office would tap more parishes to ensure that the low-income consumers could buy cheaper rice, he added.
Diez announced that the NFA 7 decided to give additional allocation to Tindahan Natin outlets in the region because of the current tight supply in the market that has been driving commercial prices up.
The NFA 7 increased the rice allocations for all TN outlets, from 15 bags per week to 20 bags per week because of the large number of people lining up to buy the cheaper rice, he said.
Diez also explained that customers were allowed to buy one kilo to three kilos of NFA rice, depending on the number of family members, from the authorized retailers. To prevent repeat customers, Diez said some retailers, especially in Carcar City, started using marker pens to mark the fingernails of those who bought rice from them.
An official of the Catholic Church in Cebu said the Archdiocese of Cebu would be ready to join in the distribution of the cheaper rice to the poor consumers.
But Monsignor Achilles Dakay, media liaison officer of the Cebu Archdiocese, expressed apprehension that government might consider distributing condoms as a way to solve the reported rice shortage. Dakay was reacting to observations that the uncontrolled population growth in the country contributed to the rice crisis and that it was time for the government to be more aggressive about population control to ensure the country's food security in the future.
The Catholic Church advocates the use of natural family planning methods while it opposes artificial family planning methods.
Earlier, Albay Representative Edcel Lagman pointed at the rising population as one of the causes of the rice shortage.
He urged government to trust the Catholic Church on the issue of contraceptives as it trusted the Church in helping address the rice supply crisis.
Meanwhile, Diez said the NFA investigated around 28 retail stores in Cebu for possible violation of the rules in selling NFA rice, including overpricing and unreasonable depletion of supply.
Though some were still under investigation, others were fined P2,000 while some were allowed to sell again after they were cleared. /Inquirer
