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Personnel man the National Food Authority warehouse in Quezon City.  Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News file

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NFA warehouse

Andrea Taguines

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday assured local rice farmers that the National Food Authority (NFA) is working on ways to still be able to buy their harvests despite the latest scandal that the agency is facing.The Office of the Ombudsman earlier ordered the preventive suspension of 141 NFA officials and employees, including warehouse supervisors, prompting the closure and halting of operations of dozens of warehouses across the country at the height of the palay procurement season.This stemmed from allegations that the NFA had illegally sold 75,000 sacks of rice to private traders without going through a proper auction.In a news forum, DA Spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa said NFA trucks have been deployed in areas where warehouses have been closed.<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/19/nfa-warehouses-reopened-after-suspension-of-officials-da-1829">NFA warehouses reopened after suspension of officials: DA</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/19/amid-investigation-on-alleged-anomalous-sale-of-rice-buffer-stock-ombudsman-says-nfa-uncooperative-1812">Amid investigation on alleged anomalous sale of rice buffer stock, Ombudsman says NFA uncooperative</a></div>“Part ‘yun ng strategy ng NFA ngayon. Maraming truck na umiikot kasi may pondo sila ngayon na mamili. Unhampered yung commitment ni Secretary ngayong panahon ng harvest season,” said De Mesa.(That’s part of the NFA’s strategy right now. Many trucks are going around because they have the budget to acquire palay. The Secretary’s commitment to farmers is unhampered this harvest season).He said DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has also ordered NFA Officer-in-Charge Administrator Larry Lacson to speed up the reopening of more warehouses to prevent operational paralysis.“Utos din ni Secretary doon sa meron pang sarado na mabuksan agad at mapalitan yung mga— kumbaga ma-replace yung mga bodegero na na-suspend,” he added.(The Secretary also ordered closed warehouses to reopen as soon as possible by replacing the suspended warehouse supervisors).The DA’s assurance comes as AGRI Party-List Representative Wilbert Lee shared reports he received from farmers affected by warehouse closures in Nueva Ecija, which is considered the rice granary of the Philippines.“Sinasabi na yung mga warehouse doon, sarado. And then bumagsak na agad ng P2 per kilo yung farmgate price kasi no choice yung mga lokal na magsasaka. Ang gusto raw mangyari, dalhin sa Pampanga pa. Paano yung logistic na ganun?” said Lee.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3rjvl-DVG-w?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>(They are saying that the warehouse there is closed. Then the farmgate price dropped by P2 per kilo because local farmers had no other choice but to sell to traders. What the NFA supposedly wants is to bring their harvests to Pampanga. But how would the logistics for that work?)But De Mesa said there are still warehouses in Nueva Ecija that are operating. He added that out of the 288 warehouses in the country, 169 are currently active.<div>WHO ARE ACCOUNTABLE?</div>Meanwhile, the lawyer of over a hundred NFA employees who were preventively suspended questioned why only a few agency officials were included in the suspension order. Attorney Dino De Leon said it is unjust to sanction rank-and-file workers when they have no decision-making powers. “Ang prineventively suspend mo, bodegera, rank-and-file pero yung mga nasa taas ay hindi kasama. We understand that this particular issue was because of an alleged report by Assistant Administrator for Operators Lemuel Pagayunan. Pero hindi siya kasama sa preventively suspended kahit na assistant administrator na siya,” said De Leon.(You preventively suspended the warehouse supervisors and the rank-and-file employees but those at the top are not included. He is not included in the list of preventively suspended officials even though he is an assistant administrator.)While the DA is deferring to the Ombudsman on this issue, it said the agency is conducting its own internal investigation into the supposedly questionable sale of rice buffer stocks. The investigation, according to De Mesa, will also cover Pagayunan.De Mesa said Lacson has also been ordered to fully cooperate with the probe of the Office of the Ombudsman following complaints from Ombudsman Samuel Martires that they are being given the runaround.For Lee, apart from top NFA officials, involved rice traders should also be held accountable.“Sinasabi sa hearing, in practice daw ito noon pa dati nga 5 million, 4 million (sacks of rice). Sino yung mga ito?” he said.(Before, it would even be 5 million, 4 million sacks of rice sold to private traders. Who are these people?)Lee also suggested that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. take the helm of the NFA to ensure that ongoing investigations will not be politically influenced.“With all due respect to Secretary Tiu Laurel, direkta kasi ‘pag presidente, magagawa niya yung whole-of-government approach” he added.(With all due respect to Secretary Tiu Laurel, it’s more direct when it’s the President acting, he can implement a whole-of-government approach).

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday assured local rice farmers that the National Food Authority (NFA) is working on ways to still be able to buy their harvests despite the latest scandal that the agency is facing.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday assured local rice farmers that the National Food Authority (NFA) is working on ways to still be able to buy their harvests despite the latest scandal that the agency is facing.

Agri dept assures farmers of continued NFA operations despite closure of many warehouses

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Agri dept assures farmers of continued NFA operations despite closure of many warehouses

Andrea Taguines,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 20, 2024 04:44 PM PHT

Read More:

NFA

Department of Agriculture

rice buffer stocks

Ombudsman

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