79 NFA warehouses remain closed — DA

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday said 79 warehouses managed by the National Food Authority (NFA) remain padlocked in view of the ongoing investigation of the Ombudsman regarding the alleged anomalous sale of rice to favored traders.

Of this number, 20 warehouses are scheduled to open following the Ombudsman's move to lift the suspension of more than 20 NFA personnel, Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Arnel de Mesa said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay News Forum on Wednesday.

De Mesa said these warehouses are located in Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, and the National Capital Region (NCR).

Earlier, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB that the suspension order against 23 NFA personnel was lifted after investigators from his office found erroneous data in the list provided by DA, which was supposedly sourced from the NFA.

Prior to this, the Office of the Ombudsman had lifted the suspension order on one NFA employee.

In total, the Ombudsman originally ordered a 90-day preventive suspension against 139 NFA officials and employees, including administrator Roderico Bioco and assistant administrator for operations John Robert Hermano, over the controversy. The suspension took effect on March 4.

Palay stocks

Meanwhile, De Mesa assured that the procurement of palay would remain unhampered.

As of posting time, a total of 169 warehouses were active, while other similar facilities are also expected to open soon.

"'Yung utos din ni Secretary doon sa meron pang sarado na mabuksan agad at ma-replace 'yung mga bodegero na na-suspend. Unhampered 'yung procurement ngayong panahon ng harvest season," De Mesa said.

(The Secretary ordered the opening of the closed warehouses and replace the suspended warehouse personnel at the soonest. Procurement is unhampered during the ongoing harvest season.)

However, Agri Partylist Representative Wilbert Lee expressed concerns that the warehouse closures would continue to affect farmers' incomes as palay prices have dropped by as much as P2 per kilo in Nueva Ecija.

"No choice mga local na magsasaka. Kahapon may mga warehouses doon sarado at bumagsak na by P2 ang farmgate price kasi no choice local na magsasaka," Lee said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay News Forum.

(Local farmers have no choice. Yesterday there were warehouses that were closed and farmgate prices fell by P2 because farmers have no choice.)

Lee added that farmers are looking into the possibility of transporting palay to places such as Pampanga, but logistics concerns remain.

Reopening warehouses

De Mesa assured that the padlocked warehouses would be opened soon.

"Isa sa instruction niya sa ManCom ng NFA ay siguraduhin na babalik ulit sa normal na operasyon especially itong mga naka-padlock," De Mesa said.

(One of his instructions to the NFA ManCom is to make sure that normal operations would resume, especially for these padlocked warehouses.)

The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) recently expressed fears that the suspensions would affect the government's capacity to buy rice stocks from farmers.

PCAFI president Danilo Fausto said his group was worried that traders could push buying prices below P20 per kilo, but added that this could be avoided if the NFA is ready to buy stocks. — VDV, GMA Integrated News