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National Food Authority. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File.

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<div></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/NFA.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>National Food Authority. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</div>MANILA (UPDATED) — The Ombudsman has also suspended the acting chief of the National Food Authority (NFA) over the allegedly anomalous sale of the agency&#x27;s rice buffer stocks, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.The Ombudsman suspended Piolito Santos, who was appointed acting NFA administrator last week, and Jonathan Yazon, acting department manager for operation and coordination of the NFA, the DA said in a statement on Monday.Last week, the Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of NFA administrator Roderico Bioco and more than 100 employees over the alleged disadvantageous sale of rice buffer stocks.Due to the suspensions, DA chief Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. will retake the helm of the NFA.Laurel also appointed Director IV Larry Lacson as officer-in-charge deputy administrator of the NFA to ensure the agency&#x27;s continued operations, the DA said.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/4/139-nfa-officials-suspended-over-controversial-sale-of-rice-buffer-stocks-1405">READ: 139 NFA officials, employees suspended over sale of rice buffer stocks</a></div>Amid the suspensions, the DA has said that the NFA will prioritize the rice needs of government agencies that respond to disasters and calamities.&quot;Ang pangunahing mandate at layunin ay tugunan ang pangangailangan ng mga disaster risk agency na rumeresponde sa kalamidad gaya ng DSWD, OCD, NDRRMC, PNRC, BJMP, lokal na pamahalaan,&quot; said Asec. Arnel De Mesa, spokesperson of the Department of Agriculture.[The primary mandate and goal of NFA is to respond to the needs of disaster risk agencies like DSWD, OCD, NDRRMC, PNRC, BJMP, and local government units.]&quot;Tutugunan muna ang pangangailangan nila, para maiwasan ang mga may nagre-request tapos hindi napagbibigyan. Dapat ano pangangailangan nila, yun muna tuunan ng pansin ng National Food Authority at pag wala na, titinginan pano mag dispose,&quot; De Mesa added.[The NFA will respond to their needs first to avoid requests that aren&#x27;t being fulfilled. The NFA will prioritize them and when they&#x27;re done, they will check how to dispose.]Investigation of the controversial sale revealed that NFA was unable to provide rice to fulfill the request of DSWD last year.De Mesa also said the operations of NFA continues especially during this time, which is palay-procurement season.The department is also checking if the operations of 97 padlocked warehouses have resumed. A total of 99 of the suspended officials were warehouse managers in the field offices.Meanwhile, the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food is worried about the developments in the NFA.&quot;The last resort of farmers is to go to NFA to sell it because they buy it at P23, now that there is some issues on NFA and a lot of people were suspended, we expect the NFA will be immobile, during harvest, there&#x27;s nowhere the farmers can go when prices go down,&quot; said Danilo Fausto, President of PCAFI.ABS-CBN News has reached out to Santos but he refused to comment. He said he is preparing a Motion for Reconsideration. -- With a report from Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News <ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2977733"></ivs-player><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><div> </div>

The Ombudsman has also suspended the acting chief of the National Food Authority over the allegedly anomalous sale of the agency's rice buffer stocks, the Department of Agriculture said.

The Ombudsman has also suspended the acting chief of the National Food Authority over the allegedly anomalous sale of the agency's rice buffer stocks, the Department of Agriculture said.

Ombudsman also suspends acting NFA chief over rice deal

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Ombudsman also suspends acting NFA chief over rice deal

ABS-CBN News

Published March 12, 2024 10:11 AM PHT

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Updated March 12, 2024 03:04 PM PHT

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Department of Agriculture

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