NFA chief offers to resign

MANILA, Philippines - National Food Administration (NFA) chief Arthur Juan, who has been in office for only two months, has offered to resign as he denied extortion allegations hurled against him by a rice trader.

The offer to quit was rejected by presidential assistant on food security Francis Pangilinan.

Through a sworn statement submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bulacan-based rice trader Jomerito Soliman accused Juan and his assistant Patricia Galang of extorting P15 million in exchange for withdrawing the charges filed against him.

Soliman added that P5 million each was meant for Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Pangilinan, on top of the P5 million intended for Juan as NFA chief.

Soliman claimed a total of P10 million was deposited in two separate bank accounts. He added the other P5 million was placed inside a bag left under a table in a popular barbecue and noodle restaurant in Makati City.

Pangilinan said the allegations of Soliman are baseless. 

“It is not for me to accept but I persuaded him to stay on because I believe the accusations against him are unfounded. We will, however, cooperate with the ongoing NBI investigation and respect their findings,” Pangilinan said yesterday.

Pangilinan also rejected Galang’s courtesy resignation.

Roxas also denied allegations that he was allegedly a recipient of extortion money. He also expressed support for the investigation of the NBI into the allegations of Soliman.

“There is no truth to the allegation. I don’t known Mr. Soliman. I met NFA administrator Arthur Juan only twice or thrice and the meetings were about the rice smuggling,” Roxas said.

Malacañang, on the other hand, said they have no idea that Juan has quit his post in the midst of soaring cost of rice in the market.

“We have no idea… that is breaking news and we do not have any information that he filed his resignation,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

Valte said Pangilinan would appropriately address the issue.

“We do expect Secretary Pangilinan to make a comment on it soon, perhaps because he is the one who oversees the NFA among other agencies under the Department of Agriculture,” Valte said.

“But if you ask me why he resigned, it’s best to ask him because we have no insight on the personal motivation of NFA administrator Juan at this moment,” she said.

Juan said Soliman’s statement came as retaliation for the NFA’s recent actions against unscrupulous rice traders.

“I categorically state that the allegations of Mr. Jojo Soliman are not true. They are baseless and mere fabrication,” he said.

Soliman, owner of Purefeeds Corp., faces charges for violation of trade laws.

Juan said Soliman’s Bulacan warehouse was among several commercial rice storage units inspected by the NFA and the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group last month for rice hoarding.  – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Delon Porcalla