Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Thursday categorically denied branding the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Food Authority (NFA) as the “most corrupt” agencies in the entire bureaucracy.

He, however, clarified that it does not suggest that they are free from officials guilty of wrongdoings.

“I’m not saying that there are no corrupt officials and employees in the Department of Agriculture, but I’m not saying also that it is the most corrupt,” the former Supreme Court associate justice told DAILY TRIBUNE in a phone interview.

Martires issued the clarification after his previous interview, wherein he was asked to explicitly name a major corrupt agency, which made rounds on social media and stirred controversy.

In defense, Martires asserted that he did not “unequivocally” single out the two agencies as the breeder of corruption in the entire government, although he labeled them as one.

“Before I say that, I qualified my answer… What I said was [it’s the agency] within Quezon Memorial Circle. I did not say it’s the most corrupt; I did not use the term,” he explained.

The DA Office of the Secretary is headquartered at the Quezon Memorial Circle, while its attached agency, the NFA, is situated on Visayas Avenue.

According to Martires, whose office is tasked with prosecuting the crooks in the government, he has no competence to point at the DA and the NFA as principal offenders.

He pointed out that corruption is prevalent and spans the entire bureaucracy, including those agencies beyond the Quezon Memorial Circle.

Nevertheless, he acknowledged the ongoing efforts of the DA, under the stewardship of Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., to purge the menace of corruption within the department, whose broad mandate encompasses various aspects of agriculture, including crop production, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, irrigation, and rural development, among others.

Martires also concurred with Laurel to restore the NFA’s power to import, a provision lobbied by the House of Representatives but was left out when Congress passed the amended Rice Tariffication Law in December last year.

“You know those who say they don't want to reinstate the power to import [of the NFA], they are probably in cahoots with the traders. The NFA should be given back all its power, including the power to supply public markets,” Martires lamented.

He also branded the amended RTL as “anti-poor.”

In a previous interview, Laurel stressed that restoring some of the crucial powers of the NFA, including that of the House’s recommendation, will help the government in its long pursuit to lower the cost of rice, currently pegged at P50 to P60 per kilo.

NFA rice, which was then sold at P27 per kilo, was pulled out of the markets following the enactment of RTL in February 2019 during the Duterte administration.

The law prohibits NFA from directly selling its stocks to the market and restricts its function of buffering the stocking of palay for calamities.

The RTL also abolished NFA's powers to regulate the rice sector, license market players, inspect warehouses, track stock movements, and stabilize prices, while liberalizing the importation of rice.

House lawmakers are highly suspicious that the persistently high price of the staple grain, despite reports of excess rice supply and the enforcement of Executive Order 62 in July, which reduced the tariff on rice imports from 35 percent to 15 percent, may be artificial or manipulated by cartels, profiteers, and unscrupulous traders.