Villar says Duterte denied Aquino back at NFA despite leave cancelled by Piñol

Is he back or is he not?

President Rodrigo Duterte has denied that Jason Aquino was back at the helm of the National Food Authority (NFA) even after Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol announced that he cancelled Aquino's leave of absence while the agency waited for his replacement.

Senator Cynthia Villar, during her interpellation of Senator Risa Hontiveros' privilege speech on the NFA and Aquino's supposed return as administrator, said she talked on the phone with Duterte who told her he would not be back at the post.

“Si Jason Aquino na umani ng batikos dahil sa tuluyang pagsirit ng presyo ng bigas, umani ng batikos dahil sa pakikipagsabwatan sa mga rice hoarder at smuggler, at umani ng batikos dahil sa sunod sunod na kapalpakan, ay nasa pamunuan na naman ng NFA,” Hontiveros said.

During the interpellation period, Villar said she talked to  Duterte and the latter said: “Jason Aquino is not coming back to NFA.”

“Tumawag ako kay (Special Assistant to the President) Bong Go, pinasabi ko kay President na bakit ang news sa GMA News ay bumalik si Jason Aquino. E sabi niya kausapin mo si President kasi hindi totoo yan.  So kinausap ko si Presidente sabi ko po e nagkakagulo dito sa Senado bakit po ibinalik si Jason Aquino. Sabi niya hindi totoo yun. He’s not coming back to NFA. Sabi niyang ganun tell them he’s not coming back to NFA. He doesn’t want to be sa NFA,” she said.

The GMA News Online article is based on the interview of Piñol with GMA News TV’s News To Go on September 20.

In that interview, Piñol said:  "Kausap ko si Jason Aquino kanina and I cancelled his leave. Sabi ko, 'I'm cancelling your leave, you have to report to duty.' Wala pa namang pumapalit sa kanya... wala pang pinapalit si Presidente so effectively he's still the NFA administrator.”  

Army chief Lieutenant General Rolando Bautista, who will retire on October 15, has been offered the job.

In a press conference on Monday, Piñol clarified that he does not have the capacity to decide on the fate of Aquino.

"'Yung statement ng mga senador natin na pinapabalik ko daw si Jason Aquino is not quite accurate,"  Piñol said. "Akala pinababalik ko si Jason Aquino, I don’t have the power to decide on the fate of Aquino."

He, however, reiterated that Aquino is technically still the NFA administrator as Bautista will take over by mid-October.

"The fact is that the President's replacement to Jason Aquino, General Rolly Bautista, would only assume in October. That is an announcement made by the President already. Until such time since wala pa naman sinasabi si Presidente na sinisibak niya si Aquino, Aquino remains as NFA administrator until such time that General Rolly Bautista takes over," he said.

In a nationally televised interview earlier this month, Duterte announced that Aquino had asked to be replaced amid a shortage of cheap rice from the NFA.

The following day, Aquino went on leave while Duterte looked for a replacement.

Last week, Piñol announced that he had cancelled Aquino's leave because he was still needed at the post. Hontiveros on Monday said that Aquino was still in power at the NFA.

“Technically, that is correct, technically, but he is no longer in power as far as Malacanang, President and executive secretary are concerned," Senate President Tito Sotto said.

"Technically, Secretary Piñol is correct. He (Aquino) is still the administrator because he has not been replaced but he is on leave. Technicality ‘yung term na ‘yan palagay ko,” he added.

Hontiveros, in her privilege speech, accused Aquino of being at the center of the alleged massive corruption in the NFA and might be held liable for ‘economic sabotage.’

“How much was paid to Aquino by private importers for allowing this modus operandi? We can only surmise. What criminal offense can be charged against him? Here, there is no surmising. Economic sabotage under Republic Act No. 10845,” she said.

She said the rice crisis resulted from a conspiracy between unscrupulous private traders and insiders within the NFA.

Hontiveros said according to her sources, corruption is rampant in the entry of imported rice through the country’s two main pathways: (1) through the Minimum Access Volume Program, which is a program of the NFA aligned with our commitments to the WTO, and is the private sector’s program for importing rice, and (2) through the G2G (Government to Government)/ G2P (Government to Private) program which is the government’s program for its importation of rice for the NFA buffer stock.

“In both these pathways, corruption is endemic. First, by gaming the price of rice through the manipulation of the buffer stock. Pinasadsad ang laman ng buffer stock para sumirit pataas ang presyo ng bigas galing sa private traders sa merkado. Pinatengga ang pasok ng G2G na bigas sa mga piyer para maka-position muna ang mga private traders at makabenta ng mahal,” Hontiveros said.

“Secondly, by consolidating the hold of rice cartels over stocks of imported rice through the use of front cooperatives and farmers association, among other strategies,” she added.

She believed there is a P2 billion windfall involved in the racket.

“Paano kumikita ang administrator dito? Simple. Ang kalakarang tara per bag ay between 100-150 pesos. 100 kung kaibigan ka. 150 kung di kayo masyadong close. Gawin na nating 100 pesos. Each ton contains 20 bags of rice. We import  around 1,000,000 tons of rice per year. This is the difference between the national consumption of rice and the domestic production. This means we import 20,000,000 bags of rice. Let us multiply 20,000,000 bags by 100 pesos. Twenty million bags multiplied by 100 pesos is a windfall of 2 billion pesos,” she said.

“Ito pa lang ang “entrance fee” ng mga importer para mabigyan ng certificate of eligibility at import permit. Hindi pa kasama ang iba ibang bayad pa para sa iba ibang modus operandi. Hindi pa kasama ang service fee na bigla-bigla nalang pinataw sa administrasyon ni Jason Aquino,” said Hontiveros.

She said this is a multi-billion peso enterprise “that has lined the pockets of a privileged few, and caused hunger to untold numbers of Filipinos.” —NB/BAP, GMA News