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Purisima orders probe into P171-B NFA debt


The National Food Authority's debt load increased by over six times in as many years to P171.56 billion, prompting Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to order a probe by the Commission on Audit. He was surprised how the NFA's debt bloated from only P28 billion in 2003 to more than P171 billion in six years. "We need to understand how this happened so we can avoid this in the future," Purisima told reporters on Thursday. He said he tasked the Audit Commission examine the NFA’s books. "We want to ensure there is nothing irregular there," he said. The finance chief also wants to know if the off-balance sheet treatment of the agency's subsidy activities at present can be converted on budget so that accountability is underscored on the part of agency officials. The conversion, he said, should give government "more control" over how the NFA's budget is disbursed. Aside from doing subsidy activities to help even out the price of key cereals such as rice and corn, the NFA also does regulatory and warehousing functions. Purisima noted that the debt-management system in place over the various government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and over government financial institutions (GFI) have increased over the years. "The GOCCs and GFI clearly need better supervision. Among the most pressing cause for concern are the liability increases at the NFA. Clearly there is a need to audit the numbers," he said, noting that the extent of GOCC or GFI liabilities amounted to P480 billion as of June 30. Other like the National Irrigation Administration with its P40-billion debt and the Philippine National Railways should fall under the same audit to try to end the probably unexplained expansion of their liabilities, Purisima said. Purisima said that future GOCC and GFI directors and officers need to sign for the terms of their pay packages "at reasonable and uniform" rates. Malacañang will soon come up with a performance matrix under which GOCC officers and directors will be measured. —With Jesse Edep/VS, GMANews.TV

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