Probe ‘inedible rice’ distributed to teachers, Congress urged

MANILA, Philippines — Former agriculture secretary Leonardo Montemayor called on Congress to probe reports that the rice distributed to teachers under the one-time rice grant were inedible.

“The reports should be investigated as soon as possible. Inedible stocks may be disposed of or sold by the National Food Authority (NFA) for animal feed use, but never for human consumption,” Montemayor told The STAR yesterday.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) has said that it received complaints from teachers in Nueva Ecija, Mindoro and Bacolod City in Negros Occidental that the rice given to them was of poor quality.

NFA Central Luzon manager Alwin Uy said laboratory tests were conducted to check the veracity of the complaint on inedible rice.

“As of today, all rice issued were found to be edible, in good condition and safe for human consumption,” Uy said.

He said no formal complaints were filed in any of the offices of NFA-Central Luzon.

The rice grant was based under Administrative Order 2 signed by President Marcos in December, which provides that state workers including public school teachers are entitled to a one-time P25-per-kilo rice allowance from the government.

“The NFA-Central Luzon was able to secure a certification from concerned agency-beneficiaries stating all NFA rice stocks received are of good quality and in exact weight,” Uy added.

ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said that teachers were dismayed with the quality of rice they received as these were no longer fit for human consumption.