The Department of Agriculture expressed Wednesday the possibility of returning the money of traders who brought improperly sold rice bags from the National Food Authority.

“What OIC administrator Pio [Santos] mentioned is that it should not be released because it is under investigation and there is a possibility that the money will be returned," said DA spokesperson Asec. Arnel De Mesa in a radio interview.

This statement comes after a report shows that of the 150,000 rice bags allegedly sold by NFA to certain traders, 88,000 are still in NFA warehouses.

“According to the information provided, and this was already mentioned by OIC administrator Pio Santos during the last hearing in Congress, it was mentioned that there is still rice that has not been withdrawn from there in their last transaction, so it's still in the NFA warehouses,” said De Mesa.

Moreover, the DA official said that the rice auditing in the agency is still ongoing and will go as far back as 2019, the year the Rice Tariffication Law’s provisions took effect.

He, however, noted that there is no specific deadline given by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

“This rice audit is an investigation, review of documents, and policies, because there are NFA council resolutions that must be followed regarding the proper disposition of palay and rice,” De Mesa explained.

“First, it will be checked [to see] if it is correct or consistent with these kinds of resolutions and if the processes and documents are also correct. It's more of a process audit. There are two reports that are made before selling, the laboratory analysis report and the QUASAR, the quality assurance report…and it's being checked if it is done correctly and [if] the disposition is also in line with the results of the laboratory analysis.”

In his privilege speech on Monday, Senator Raffy Tulfo claimed that the NFA quality assurance declared good rice is not fit for human consumption.

“How do they do their modus? First, they buy rice at a low price of P24 with an additional P2 subsidy from the LGU as part of the Rice Marketing Assistance Program for Legislators and Local Government Units, or PALLGU. So the NFA gets the rice for P26, and then they will mill it, and they will pay it in kind or with rice mill products,” he said, adding that after the purchase, the NFA office of administrator would then look for stocks they could sell.

“He orders director Alwin Uy and Charles Alingod to identify stocks and instruct the quality assurance officer to issue a laboratory analysis report that will declare that the good stocks are no longer in good condition,” said Tulfo.

“Administrator [Roderico] Bioco and a certain Navarro will ask Alingod and Uy to negotiate the sale price to private millers, and they will be brought, and they will also collect the charge on behalf of Bioco and Navarro, and when the [deal] is closed, they will issue rice sales to the millers using lab reports that say they are not fit for human consumption to lower the price,” he added.

Laurel earlier reassumed his post as the temporary NFA head after the Ombudsman ordered the suspension of two more of its executives, including Santos, who was last week appointed as the officer in charge of the agency.