There is no need for panic buying and hoarding of rice as there are sufficient supplies of both commercial rice and subsidized rice variants from the National Food Authority (NFA) in Bohol, an official said amid fears of dwindling stocks due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) scare.

Joel Lim, NFA Bohol spokesperson, said that NFA has at least 19,000 bags of rice in its warehouses in the province while they are aware that commercial rice traders have “more than enough” supplies.

Lim however could not give exact figures for the commercial variants as the NFA, through the Rice Tariffication Act, was stripped of its industry monitoring role.

“If I am not mistaken, kaning mga dagkong traders nato sa Bohol naay sufficient inventory which is more than enough to supply the needs sa atong probinsya,” he said.

The NFA official projected that current supplies in the province will last for “30 to 50” days, noting that average rice consumption in the province is at 9,000 bags per day.

On Monday, 8,000 bags of NFA rice arrived at the Tagbilaran City port from Mindoro with unloading of the supplies still continuing as of Wednesday.

In a statement, Department of Agriculture Region 7 Executive Director Salvador Diputado also assured the public that there is sufficient rice supply in the entire region even with the growing COVID-19 threat.

He said that current stocks are enough to provide for the needs of Central Visayas for three months.

“Mao na dili ta angay mag panic, dili ta angay mangadto sa mag department store og sobra sa atong panginahanglan,” he said.

Diputado warned that continued hoarding will cause supply shortage.

“Ang atong mga kauban sa Department of Agriculture 7 kanunay na nag monitor sa atong stock sa pagkaon dinhi sa rehiyon ingon man sa presyo sa atong mga inadlaw na pamaliton mao ng di ta angay mabalaka,” he said. (Allen Doydora)