DA chief orders audit of NFA rice disposition

MANILA, Philippines — Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has ordered the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s Internal Audit Service to look into the rice disposition by the National Food Authority (NFA) for the past five years amid the current rice sale controversy.

The audit will include the disposition data from 2019 when the Rice Tariffication Law was passed that allowed the agency to sell rice to the public, according to the DA.

The DA secretary said that provisions in the law could have been taken advantage of by NFA officials and private traders, using the aging rice buffer stocks as leeway for the sale.

“We want to see if there is a pattern of rice disposition that is disadvantageous to government,” Laurel said.

Officer-in-charge Joan Jagonos-Oliva will head the DA-IAS in conducting the examination of the NFA rice stocks.

The Office of the Ombudsman recently ordered the suspension of 139 officials from the NFA, including administrator Roderico Bioco and assistant administrator for operations John Robert Hermano.

Also suspended were 99 warehouse supervisors, 26 branch managers and 12 regional managers, who are set to be replaced by the next-in-line officials.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires personally served the subpoena to the officials that will compel them to submit documents over the alleged anomalous sale.

The DA said private traders will not be free from liability if they are found to be liable during the probe.

The agency added that it is ready to face all investigations, including the planned House and Senate probes, into the NFA mess.

The NFA has appointed officer-in-charge Piolito Santos as the concurrent NFA administrator for finance and administration.

As of Feb. 1, the NFA had 361,396 bags of 50-kilo milled rice, including 193,386 bags in stock for more than three months.

On Feb. 13, NFA assistant administrator for operations Lemuel Pagayunan alleged that Bioco issued memoranda allowing the sale of 75,000 bags of NFA rice totaling P93.75 million to certain traders.

The NFA previously defended the sale of the rice, saying that the agency is allowed to dispose of aging stocks “up to 10 percent lower than the mandated price” to traders.

Speaking at a hearing of the House committee on agriculture and food last week, Pagayunan said the rice stocks sold were not deteriorating but were treated and fit for human consumption.

He said the disposition of the rice stocks did not undergo public bidding and was not approved by the NFA Council, the agency’s governing board.

Pagayunan also cited a memorandum issued by Hermano on Nov. 13, 2023 instructing that the stocks be rebagged in containers without NFA markings prior to selling as commercial rice.

Pagayunan’s allegations prompted Laurel to form a panel to investigate the alleged corruption at the NFA.