Agriculture Secretary Franscisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Wednesday appointed National Food Authority Acting Assistant Administrator for Finance and Administration Piolito Santos as officer-in-charge of the NFA, following the rice sale controversy.

“Kanina nagkaroon ng NFA council meeting with the head of NFA council ating kagalang galang na Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. at ako’y itinalaga na bilang officer in charge ng [NFA] effective today habang wala pang ina-appoint ang ating presidente na magiging adminisador,” he said.

(Earlier there was an NFA council meeting with the head of the NFA council, our honorable Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., and I have been appointed as the officer in charge of the [NFA] effective today, while our president has not yet appointed anyone who will be the administrator.)

Santos said that as the NFA OIC, his function would be rountiary matters.

“But of course, we are requesting that some of the functions of non-OIC or any acting capacity, ay mabigayan din ako ng karapatan para mas lalong mapadali ang operation ng National Food Authority, lalong-lalo na ngayon na meron tayong mga nasuspinde na 139 employees na kasama ang ating mga kasamahan na bodegero na mga nasa different warehouses nationwide,” he said.

(But of course, we are requesting that some of the functions of non-OIC or any acting capacity, be given the right to facilitate the operation of the National Food Authority, especially now that we have 139 suspended employees, including our fellow warehouse personnel who are in different warehouses nationwide.)

“Kailangan talaga na maayos na ito para mabuksan ang kanilang mga bodega para makapagbigay tayo ng serbisyo sa ating mamamayang Pilipino,” he continued.

(It really needs to be fixed so that their warehouses can be opened so that we can provide services to our Filipino people.)

He said that among discussed in the meeting were the actions to be taken regarding the closed warehouses that are planned to be transferred to NFA employees who have no accountability for the alleged improper rice sale.

“Yun nga yung pinag-usapan namin kanina na bibigyan namin ng action para yung na-padlock or hindi nabuksan na bodega ay ating mabubuksan at ita-transfer ito sa mga bodegero na walang accountability para mapagbigyan natin ng bigas yung mga nangangailangan na mamamayan katulad ng DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development], local government units at iba pa,” said Santos.

(That's what we talked about earlier: we will take action so that the warehouses that are padlocked or not opened will be opened and transferred to the warehousemen who have no accountability so that we can provide rice to the needy citizens like the DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development], local government units, and others.)

Moreover, he said that the NFA projects to secure at least 300,000 metric tons of palay for buffer stocking this year, adding that the government has provided the agency with a P9 billion budget for 2024.

“Nung nakaraang taon ay meron pa tayong natitirang P8.2 billion, kaya meron tayong P17 billion na pwedeng pambili ng palay ng ating mamamayan,” he added.

(We still had P8.2 billion left from last year, so we have P17 billion that can be used to buy our people rice.)

“The NFA is a very important government agency, especially during calamities and other disasters as well as in the lives of millions of poor Filipinos. We cannot lose heart during this challenging time for the NFA and DA family,” said the agriculture chief.

DA spokesperson Arnel de Mesa earlier said that since the passing of the Rice Tariffication Law in 2019, the only function of the NFA is buffer stocking in case of emergencies and disasters that would support and aid local government units and national agencies such as the DSWD, the Office of the Civil Defense, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

The DA implemented on Monday the preventive suspension order of the Office of the Ombudsman against 139 NFA employees after reports surfaced the past week on allegedly 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.

De Mesa said that the rice sale probe aims to examine it as far back as 2019, at least.