NFA warehouses need not be closed amid probe —Ombudsman

Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Thursday questioned the closure of National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses amid the ongoing investigation by his office into the alleged irregular sale of rice buffer stock.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Martires said it is unfair that the Ombudsman would be blamed for NFA's supposed inability to procure rice stock these days due to the closed warehouses.

"Hindi sila kailangan magsara ng warehouses. Ang nakakatakot nito, dahil sinasabi nilang nakasara ang karamihan ng warehouses, sa amin pa isisisi na hindi sila makabili ng palay," Martires said.

(They don't need to close down their warehouses. What's scary about this is they're saying that because numerous warehouses are closed, they could not buy rice grain, and are blaming us.)

Martires issued the remark after the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that 79 warehouses remain padlocked amid the investigation of the Ombudsman on the alleged anomalous sale of rice to favored traders.

During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay News Forum on Wednesday, DA Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Arnel de Mesa said these warehouses are located in Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, and the National Capital Region (NCR).

The Ombudsman stressed that there should be relievers for absent or suspended warehouse personnel so that normal operations would not be hampered.

"'Yun nga sinasabi ko. Sana si Asec. De Mesa, pag-aralan niya muna ang sistema ng NFA kung ano ang mangyayari pag itong taong ito ay wala, 'di ba? Parang sa ating mga kasamahan, mga kaibigang reporter… pag medyo may sakit ‘yung isa, merong reliever kaagad,” he said.

(That's what I'm saying. I hope Asec. De Mesa would look into the system of the NFA and what will happen when an employee is not present. Like reporters… if there is someone who is sick, they immediately have a reliever.)

"It only goes to show kung walang papasok, inefficient ang NFA (If there is no designated reliever, then it just shows that the NFA is inefficient)," he added.

In a statement on Thursday, the DA said it is fast-tracking the reopening of padlocked NFA warehouses to ensure the agency’s continuous operations and palay procurement activities.

To facilitate the reopening of closed NFA warehouses, the DA said it has ordered the transfer of authority of suspended NFA warehousemen to their deputies.

“We will ensure that all padlocked warehouses will be opened soonest to optimize the impact of NFA’s procurement activities on rice farmers' income as well as secure the maximum volume of palay for buffer stocking,” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

During Wednesday's forum, De Mesa assured the public that the padlocked warehouses would be opened soon.  He also said the procurement of rice would remain unhampered.

The Ombudsman earlier suspended 139 NFA officials and personnel — including administrator Roderico Bioco and assistant administrator for operations John Robert Hermano — as part of its investigation.

Last week, the Ombudsman lifted the suspension order against 23 NFA personnel after investigators found erroneous data on the list provided by DA, which was supposedly sourced from the NFA. —KBK, GMA Integrated News