Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr., ordered on Tuesday an investigation into the reported unsolicited selling of rice by the National Food Authority to certain traders at corrupted prices.

Laurel created a panel of investigators who will probe allegations that some NFA officials have been authorizing the sale of milled rice stored in the agency’s warehouse for P25 a kilo without bidding and after acquiring the grains in palay form for P23 per kilo.

"We do not brush aside reports of impropriety against officials of the Department of Agriculture, regardless of the source. We also welcome any government agency who may wish to conduct their own probe to ferret out the truth,” said Laurel.

“We are custodians of government funds—monies to be spent for the benefit of Filipinos, especially farmers and fishermen. Taxpayers' money shouldn't be squandered to line anybody’s pockets," he added.

“Those who profit at the expense of farmers and fishermen, as well as Filipino consumers, should be meted the harshest penalty under the law.”

NFA insiders told the Daily Tribune on Monday that the said rice stocks were bought with a farmgate price of P23 per kilo but sold to private traders at P25 per kilo, who in turn "rebagged" the rice into sacks without NFA markings that could be sold at a higher price of P50 per kilo.

The insiders added that the unauthorized sale was not approved by the Governing Council, which is composed of Cabinet members with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as its chair.

Based on the Department of Agriculture's latest price monitoring, imported special rice is sold at a price between P57 and P65 per kilo, while the local variant ranges from P57 to P66 per kilo.

Imported premium rice is P50 to P65 per kilo, while the local variant is P50 to P60 per kilo. Imported well-milled amounts to P50 to P55 per kilo, while the local variant is P49 to P55 per kilo.

Regular milled, on the other hand, is sold at P50 to P51 per kilo, while the local variant is priced at P50 per kilo.