“Kung kami man ay nagkamali, ang aming pagkakamali ay may pinanggalingan.”

(If we have made a mistake, our mistake has a source.)

This is what Ombudsman Samuel Martires underscored regarding the recent order putting a six-month preventive suspension on over 100 National Food Authority (NFA) officials and employees amid the probe into the agency’s reported rice sale to private traders.

On Friday, Martires said that it had lifted the suspension of 23 NFA employees after investigators found flaws in the data provided to his office by the Department of Agriculture (DA), which he said initially came from the NFA.

“After conducting initial investigation ng mga imbestigador namin, ito ang nirekomenda nila na i-lift ang preventive suspension sa mga warehouse supervisors sa Iloilo, Antique, Cabanatuan, basta NCR [National Capital Region]. Basta mga bente tres lahat 'yun,” noting that prior to this, they had already lifted the preventive suspension order on one NFA employee.

(After conducting an initial investigation by our investigators, this is what they recommended to lift the preventive suspension of warehouse supervisors in Iloilo, Antique, Cabanatuan, and some NCR [National Capital Region] areas. It's around twenty-three overall.)

“Syempre, hindi naman namin pinulot lang sa punong-kahoy [ang] mga pangalan ng taong yan. Humingi kami ng listahan ng mga tao—regional director, branch manager, atsaka warehouse supervisors sa Department of Agriculture. Binigay sa amin yan, at ang sabi lang galing ang listahan na yan sa NFA,” Martires explained.

(Of course, we didn't just pick [the] names of those people off the tree. We asked for a list of people—regional director, branch manager, and warehouse supervisors in the Department of Agriculture. That was given to us, and they just said that the list came from the NFA.)

“Kung meron kaming pagkakamali sa listahan na iyan, hindi namin kasalanan iyon. Kung mali, hindi ko alam kung sinong nanloko sa amin,” he expressed, adding that he also ordered the investigation behind the provided list.

(If we have a mistake in that list, it's not our fault. If it's wrong, I don't know who tricked us.)

“Kung sa tingin nila niloloko nila ang opisina ng Ombudsman nagkakamali sila. Ang niloloko nila ang tumabayan,” he added.

(If they think they are fooling the Ombudsman's office, they are wrong. They are fooling the people.)

According to Martires, the NFA said that they thought the list the DA asked for was about the Task Force for El Niño.

“Nakinig ako sa Kongreso noong hearing. Hindi ko alam kung sinong nagpapaliwanag kay Chairman [Mark] Enverga, kasi nung una dineny nila, dineny ng taga Department of Agriculture, dineny ng taga NFA na sa kanila galing yung listahan namin. Later on, tatlong beses binawi noong undersecretary ng Agriculture na talagang sa kanila nanggaling yun at yung listahan nila ay nanggaling din sa NFA. Sabi ng babae ngayon, ang akala daw kasi nila ang hinihinging listahan ng DA, recorded yun ah, ay tungkol sa Task Force para sa El Niño.”

(I listened to Congress during the hearing. I don't know who explained this to Chairman [Mark] Enverga because they denied it at first, the Department of Agriculture denied it, and the NFA denied that our list came from them. Later on, the undersecretary of Agriculture revoked it three times that it actually came from them and their list also came from the NFA. The woman said, they thought that the list requested by the DA, and this was recorded, was about the Task Force for El Niño.)

“Ang tanong lang namin, maliliit lang ang utak namin, hindi naman kami kasing talino nila, kung listahan ng Task Force El Niño, bakit isinama ninyo ang mga kawani na patay na? So ano yung purpose doon? Niloloko niyo ang secretary of Agriculture?”

(The only question we have is, our brains are small, we are not as smart as them, if it's for the list of Task Force El Niño, why did you include the staff who are dead? So what is its purpose? Are you fooling the secretary of Agriculture?)

Moreover, Martires stressed that “the lifting of the suspension is not because of the MR [motion for reconsideration],” which was filed by the 108 NFA officials.