The National Food Authority is aiming to open 325 "Tindahan Natin" outlets in Negros Occidental to make NFA rice available to more poor Negrense families.

NFA information officer Grizelda Arceño said more outlets will open this year aside from the existing 248 accredited TN outlets throughout the province, including Bacolod City.

'Tindahan Natin,' being implemented by the NFA and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, seeks to make rice affordable to poor families in depressed areas. Last year, there were only 77 TN outlets, and under the program, 6,160 bags NFA rice were sold.

Arceño told the DAILY STAR the program's goal is enable poor families to buy NFA rice at only P18 per kilo.

She said it is the DSWD that selects 'Tindahan Natin' operators who can avail of up to P20,000 loan privilege, while the NFA issues the license and approves the accreditation. The operators are private individuals who are granted loans by the DSWD in the form of NFA rice. They remit their payments to the Land Bank of the Philippines, and it is the DSWD that pays the NFA.

A TN outlet is required to serve at least 250 residents in the barangay where it located. As of March 2007, TN outlets have remitted more than P158,000 in loan payments. In 2006, 403,787 bags of NFA rice were also sold through 88 Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke outlets and 26 individual outside market retailers while 1,652 bags, through 11 Bigasan sa Parokya outlets in the cities of San Carlos, Kabankalan and Bacolod.*NLG

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