Ombudsman Samuel Martires said on Thursday that the Department of Agriculture should have immediately appointed replacements for the suspended National Food Authority personnel to ensure unhampered services in the agency's warehouses.

In a radio interview, Martires expressed criticism on why the DA has not immediately bonded some of the NFA officials and employees put under a six-month preventive suspension.

“Kailan namin na-issue yung preventive suspension? March 4… Ilang araw na nakakalipas, mga sampung araw na mahigit. Ilang araw ba bago makakuha ng bonds? Pag maayos lang ang system ng Bureau of Treasury, isang araw nakakakuha ka na ng bonds (When did we issue the preventive suspension? March 4... How many days have passed, about ten days more. How many days to get bonds? If the system of the Bureau of Treasury is in order, it only takes one day to get bonds),” said the Ombudsman.

“Marami silang rason na ibinibigay kay Secretary [Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.] Unang rason, yun daw mga assistant warehouse supervisors ay hindi pwedeng ma-bond dahil mabababa ang salary grade. That is not true, because the only requirement para ang isang kawani ay maging bonded o makakuha ng bonds is permanent ang appointment mo (They give many reasons to Secretary [Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.] The first reason is that assistant warehouse supervisors cannot be bonded because their salary grades are low. That is not true, because the only requirement for a staff member to be bonded or get bonds is that your appointment is permanent),” he continued, saying that the maximum for BTr to issue bonds is three days.

“Kung nag-apply naman sila nitong week lang edi dapat meron ng bonds itong mga dapat i-designate and decide yung assistant regional director, the assistant branch manager, kung na-suspend naman yung branch manager, they can always designate somebody to act temporarily as warehouseman. Hindi sila kailangan magsara ng warehouses (If they applied just this week, they must have bonds, and the assistant regional director, the assistant branch manager, must have bonds and decide, if the branch manager has been suspended, they can always designate somebody to act temporarily as warehouseman. They don't need to close warehouses),” said Martires.

He added: “Ang nakakatakot nito dahil sinasabi nilang nakasara karamihan ng warehouses, sa amin pa isisisi na hindi sila makabili ng palay (What’s scary is that because they say most of the warehouses are closed, the blame will be on us for them not being able to buy rice).”

Martires further explained: “Parang sa ating mga kasamahan, mga kaibigang field reporters, may mga naka-assign sa judiciary di ba, labor [o] kung saan, kapag medyo may sakit yung isa, merong reliever kaagad (It's like among our colleagues, field reporter friends, there are those assigned to the judiciary, labor [or] where else, when someone is a little sick, there is a reliever right away).”

“Ganon sa efficient mag-manage. It only goes to show kung walang papasok, ineffeicent ang NFA (That's how to manage efficiently. It only goes to show that if no one comes in, the NFA is ineffective),” he noted.

Morever, Martires explained bonds as “on the event na magdispalko ka o may nawala, yung bond yung sasagot dun sa nawala mo (In the event that you fail or lose something, the bond will cover what you lose).”

“Yung mga warehouses supervisor na nasuspinde, mga bonded yun. So dapat pagkasusinpde sa kanila, yung regional o assistant regional manager o assistant branch manager dahil nasuspinde yung branch manager, pinakuha agad yung assistant warehouse supervisor [o] kung sino man ang assistant sa warehouse na yun (The warehouse supervisors who were suspended are bonded. So when they were suspended, the regional or assistant regional manager or assistant branch manager because the branch manager was suspended, the assistant warehouse supervisor [or] whoever is the assistant in that warehouse should have immediately been hired).”

DA orders transfer of suspended NFA warehousemen’s authority

On the same day, the DA ordered the transfer of authority from suspended NFA warehousemen to their deputies to facilitate reopening its padlocked warehouses.

In a statement, the department said around 99 NFA warehouses remained closed after the Ombudsman suspended 141 NFA personnel amid the investigation into the alleged rice scam.

“We will ensure that all padlocked warehouses will be opened soonest to optimize the impact of NFA’s procurement activities on rice farmers' income as well as secure the maximum volume of palay for buffer stocking,” said Laurel, who also serves as the NFA Council chairperson.

The newly appointed NFA officer in charge, Larry Lacon, said Wednesday that his top priority is ensuring the agency’s unhampered services.

“The marching order is to really not hamper the operations, the purchase of rice will continue,” he said. “That is our mandate, as instructed by the Secretary, to make sure that there is no hampering.”