Enverga: No sacred cow in House probe into NFA issue

The House agriculture and food panel investigation on the alleged selling of National Food Authority (NFA) rice stocks without public bidding will not spare anyone, House agriculture and food panel chairperson and Quezon lawmaker Mark Enverga said Wednesday.

Enverga made the statement in the aftermath of the Office of the Ombudsman’s order to suspend at least 139 NFA officials over alleged sale of milled rice stored in the agency’s warehouse for P25 a kilogram without bidding and after purchasing the grains in palay (unmilled rice) form at P23 per kilogram.

“The Speaker has always tasked the Committee to probe everything. Walang sasantuhin, walang sisinuhin,” he said in a press conference, referring to Speaker Martin Romualdez.

(There will be no sacred cows, we won’t shield anybody from anything.)

“Automatic na po sa amin [It's automatic for us] to make this a priority. We actually filed the Resolution last week, but unfortunately, due to the gravity of the work here in Congress, it was not immediately referrred to our committee, so we will do it in a motu propio manner,” Enverga added.

He said that the inquiry is also expected to shed light if NFA’s existence remains valuable.

“This is in aid of legislation, so we will look at the functions of the NFA. What is it lacking of? Are they still relevant to the times?” he said.

“There will be a lot of learnings here, in time of the looming mandatory review of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL),” he added.

Under the RTL, rice import tariff collections in excess of P10 billion should go directly to farmers tilling two hectares of land and below in the form of cash grants. Likewise, the RTL lifted import limits on rice. 

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Wednesday announced the appointment of Piolito Santos as officer-in-charge of the NFA. — BM, GMA Integrated News