Some 39,638 government employees in this province have received their one-time rice subsidy in accordance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administrative order.

In an interview on Friday, National Food Authority (NFA) Eastern Pangasinan information officer Kevin Hilario said the number accounted for 84.16 percent of the total beneficiaries.

He said there are still 7,458 government personnel who have not yet availed of their rice subsidy.

“Nag-deadline na noong June 30 pero na-extend dahil marami pa hindi na-serban. Mag-deadline na ulit sa July 31, maaring magrequest kami for another extension kasi kung hindi nila makuha ay ma-forfeit na ito (The deadline was in June 30 but it was extended as many were not yet served. The deadline is again set on July 31 and we may request for another extension because if they would not avail it, it would be forfeited),” he said.

Most of the beneficiaries in the province are personnel of the Department of Education, state colleges and universities, national government agencies, and military or uniformed personnel, among others.

Meanwhile, Hilario said the buffer stock in Pangasinan is at 15,000 bags or sacks of rice as of July 28.

“The buffer stock is sufficient and the bidding for procurement is ongoing so, we expect more to add to this,” he said.

He said they are prioritizing the disbursement to the local government units (LGUs) that are under a state of calamity like Dagupan City and other local governments that would request for procurement of NFA rice.

He added that the selling price of NFA rice is PHP25 per kilo and the procurement price of palay from farmers is PHP19 per kilo.

Hilario said they are asking the legislators and the LGU officials to subsidize with a minimum of PHP1 the procurement of palay from farmers.

“We are asking them to subsidize the top-up to PHP19 per kilo which is a minimum of PHP1 per kilo in order to encourage farmers to sell their palay to us,” he said.

The selling price of palay to other merchants is PHP20-PHP24, he said.

“We do not force the farmers to sell to us their palay produce but we are just saying that they would be helping more if they sell it to us,” he added. (PNA)