OIC recommended sale of rice stocks — Martires
THE Office of the Ombudsman has suspended two more ranking officials of the National Food Authority (NFA) in connection with its continuing investigation into alleged irregularities in the sale of rice buffer stocks to favored traders.
On a phone interview, Ombudsman Samuel Martires confirmed that he suspended NFA acting administrator Piolito Santos and acting Operations and Coordination department manager Jonathan Yazon.
“They were actually part of the first batch of NFA officers we suspended but their names were dropped initially as I was still waiting for some documents to verify their participation,” Martires said.
He added: “From the records we have on hand, Santos was one of the NFA officers who recommended the sale to (suspended NFA administrator) Bioco while Yazon was a signatory to the release of grain reserves.”
Last March 1, Martires issued an order placing Bioco and 138 other NFA officers under six month preventive suspension to allow investigators unbridled access to the paper trail of the transactions and agency records regarding the sale of the buffer stocks.
“The subject of this investigation is a matter of public interest because this involves our staple food. It impacts all of us since it appears that NFA officials have been selling rice stocks at P25 per kilo to big traders when even the poorest Filipino households are buying at more than twice that,” the Ombudsman pointed out.
Martires disclosed that investigators are reviewing recommendations from regional NFA officers to lift the suspension against some warehouse officers who were included in the first batch of 139 names.
“I have ordered the lifting of suspension just this afternoon against an officer of NFA in Batangas. The officer, (Harold) Cuartero, turned out to be not a warehouse manager but an acting assistant branch manager. If we find others who are not at all involved. We will also lift their suspension. We are working extra hours to expedite things,” Martires said.
Martires clarified that the investigation panel obtained the list of NFA officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA) with the assurance that the roster was the most updated one available.
“We did not pluck those names out of thin air. We do not know who the NFA regional and area managers were so we requested the DA for an official copy,” he explained.
With Santos’ suspension, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. re-assumed his post as NFA administrator
At present, an internal team from the DA and a separate one from the Office of the Ombudsman are conducting investigations on the issue.
Amid this development, Laurel designated director IV Larry Lacson as OIC deputy administrator of the NFA to ensure uninterrupted service at the government-owned and controlled corporation.
“We want to stabilize the situation at the NFA following the events of last week. We want to help NFA employees during these challenging times to continue to provide uninterrupted service, especially during this harvest season,” Laurel said.
Santos was appointed by the NFA Council last Wednesday as acting administrator prior to his suspension. — With Jed Macapagal