PDLs eat NFA rice, says BJMP official
By Renelle L. Escuadro
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) —“The persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in Caraga region eat rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) for their daily consumption.”
This is the statement of Jail Senior Inspector Rosalito A. Reyna, warden of Bislig District Jail of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), during the recent Kapihan sa PIA at SM City Butuan.
“The NFA rice is served daily to our PDLs as part of the bureau’s effort to provide good and quality rice, including nutritious meals to the PDLs under our custody.”
He assured the public that the rice being served to the PDLs are of safe and acceptable quality. He said, “We want to emphasize that the rice that the PDLs eat is the same rice served to the personnel of the BJMP.
“This reflects the bureau’s principle of fairness and our commitment to ensure good health and dignity of everyone inside the jail facility,’ Reyna added, while emphasizing the relevance of the initiative to the BJMP’s mandate to uphold the basic rights and welfare of the PDLs that even in detention, they receive proper nutrition and humane treatment as part of their rehabilitation and reintegration process.
Meanwhile, the National Food Authority, currently under the Department of Agriculture, is mandated to achieve food security and rice sufficiency in the country through stability on the supply and price of rice, as the Philippines’ staple food.
Accordingly, since the Tariffication Law, NFA is no longer importing rice and has patronized entirely from local farmers nationwide.
With quality assurance in their warehouses, NFA observes strict palay and rice storage conditions, compliance on food safety protocols, stock management, quality control, among others so the rice distributed to the public, including the BJMP is safe and clean, strengthening the integrity of government rice. (RLE, PIA Caraga)
