“The campaign aimed to have volunteers from all walks of life to guard and look after food security. Our main office is targeting one million volunteers for the country’s population of 100 million Filipinos,” said Coco Reyes, NFA-Bataan information officer.
She said that the targeted ratio is one volunteer for every 100 people.
Adelaida Nuestro, NFA-Bataan manager, sworein the first batch of volunteers composed of presidents of municipal and provincial rice retailers’ associations and some local reporters before signing at the Pledge Wall.
“I will help in making sure that rice is available, accessible, affordable and visible in public markets and follow the correct food handling procedure to make sure that rice is safe for consumers,” read the pledge.
Nuestro said that for the first time, they are holding an open house, opening the Balanga City warehouse to the public during NFA’s 43rd anniversary.
NFA-Bataan also conducted a bloodletting campaign.
She said that the province has nothing to worry about rice supplies during El Nino. “We have more than sufficient inventory of rice in Bataan. Our stock is more than the requirement for food security for 15 days,” Nuestro said.
