The massive rice buffer stock which was later sold to private firms, was first offered to government agencies as part of their subsidy program, the National Food Administration said Thursday.

NFA administrator Roderico Bioco, also the vice chairperson of the NFA Council before his suspension, denied before the House Committee on Agriculture and Food allegations that the sale of 75,000 bags of rice was marred by irregularities.

Bioco told lawmakers that the buffer stock was offered to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and Bureau of Corrections before it was sold at a much lower price to private rice traders and millers, who allegedly re-bagged the stocks and sold the same at a higher price.

The Ombudsman suspended Bioco and 138 other NFA officials for six months suspension following the “improper” sale of 75,000 bags of “aging” and “deteriorating” to private firms, which were later discovered to be still fit for human consumption.

“Most of them will write us their intent to buy what’s the volume of number box,” said Bioco, referring to the three agencies.

However, unlike BJMP and BuCor, which serve the acquired NFA rice to persons deprived of liberty, Bioco said the DSWD and other agencies are “more discriminating” in terms of the quality of rice and usually prefer fresh stock.

The NFA remills the aged rice supplies before selling them to the public to ensure it is safe and still in good consumable condition, according to Bioco.

However, if the supplies last more than three months, he said “it won't be the same as same as freshly milled stock even if the agency remills it.”

“There are many agencies that don't want that anymore. But some agencies like BJMP and BuCor are still okay with it. But the volume they can absorb is limited. So, at the end, the agencies will still have to resort to the last option which is to sell the traders and rice millers,” he said.

Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo, however, did not buy Bioco’s explanation and insisted that manipulating the cost of the buffer stock was indeed the intention of the NFA.

“Sa tingin ko may plano talaga na i-hokus pokus ito, i-mekus-mekus itong mga stock na ito para maibenta sa mga private corporations (I think there is really a plan to manipulate these stocks to be sold to private corporations," Tulfo stressed.

Instead of selling to private firms, Tulfo said the NFA should have sold the rice to government agencies that need the supply to subsidize the poor.

“The House leadership have been going around in November and December looking for a cheap rice. People are hungry, rice is expensive at the time reaching P70. Then, there you have cheaper rice. Why you did not inform the government?” he continued.

Tulfo also schooled the resident auditors of NFA “for not doing their job” and for not keeping an eye out to the transactions in the agency.

The panel began the probe into the alleged anomalous sale of the rice buffer stock shortly after the Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of 139 NFA officials.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who temporarily takes charge of the NFA, announced on Monday that they already implemented the Ombudsman’s order.

Tiu, who vowed not to tolerate any form of corruption within the DA, said he formed a special panel of internal investigators to determine the culpability and to prevent the recurrence of the anomaly.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who once headed the DA, had pledged that the government would not merely look into the improper sale but would also examine how it was executed without the approval of concerned agencies.