There’s enough rice for typhoon victims

MANILA, Philippines—After the looting of a National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in storm-ravaged Leyte that resulted in 14 deaths, the rice agency assured the public it had enough supplies and had already released a total of 54,666 sacks of milled rice to various areas affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

NFA administrator Orlan A. Calayag said in a statement 43,848 sacks of rice were turned over to relief agencies and local government units in Leyte, Samar and Palawan to augment the 10,818 sacks of rice already available locally.

Calayag claimed NFA stocks were sufficient despite the storm surge ruining 165,000 sacks of rice in Northern Leyte and 35,000 sacks in Eastern Samar.

Calayag’s statement came after mobs stormed and looted the NFA warehouse in Alang-alang, a town outside Tacloban, and took 33,000 bags of rice and 96,000 bags of palay worth about P1.2 billion.

Residents have complained relief goods were not getting through to them.

According to the NFA, 14 looters were crushed to death after the stockpiles and a wall of the warehouse collapsed on them.

“We have deployed NFA employees from the Bicol, Central Visayas and Caraga regions to augment manpower in Tacloban during this period of urgency,” Calayag added.

In an interview last Wednesday, Calayag said the NFA had also beefed up security in its warehouses in the Visayas, particularly in Leyte, following the deadly looting in Alang-Alang.

He said police and soldiers were helping guard the warehouse, but they were “no match” for the mob.

“We are improving the security arrangements for our other warehouses to prevent a similar occurrence,” Calayag said.

The NFA chief declined to say where the other facilities are, saying that such information might invite more looting.

The NFA said it has been coordinating with the Department of Trade and Industry on the deployment of rolling store caravans in the affected areas.

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