MANILA - The Philippines' state grain agency has pushed back a tender for 250,000 tons rice to November 4 from a scheduled date of October 30 that coincides with a world rice summit next week, a senior government official said on Monday.

Ludovico Jarina, deputy administrator at the National Food Authority, said bidders asked for a change in schedule because most of them would be in the central Philippine province of Cebu to attend an international rice conference on October 28 and 29.

November 2 is a public holiday in the Philippines.