NFA audit team to probe reported rice anomalies

(Updated 5:55 p.m.) The National Food Authority (NFA) said Tuesday it would create an audit team to investigate the system in place on how the agency buys and imports rice as well as possible anomalies in the way it manages the supply and demand of the commodity. Jesus Posadas, a commodities expert and San Miguel Corp. executive who retired in 1997, will head the NFA audit team. NFA administrator Lito Banayo said in a press briefing at Malacañang that he chose a team leader from the private sector because he wanted a "disinterested" party with no biases. Banayo’s press briefing came a day after President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III revealed in his first State of the Nation Address that rice stocks were rotting in government warehouses due to over-importation. The Philippine government has asked Vietnamese trader Vina Foods to stop shipments involving 200,000 metric tons of rice because NFA warehouses are full of the commodity. The administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – now Pampanga Second District representative – arranged to import 2.4 million metric tons for 2010, and all but 200,000 metric tons has been shipped, Banayo said. The NFA chief said he suspects that some warehouses still have rice stocks shipped in 2008. "Punong puno po kami ng bigas. Naliligo kami sa bigas (We are full of rice. We are swimming in rice)," Banayo said. As the commodity has a shelf life of six months to one and a half years, government was forced to sell old rice stocks at a loss, he said. Less rice imports in 2011 The audit team will look into existing purchase and import protocols the NFA follows in timing the purchases and in determining the purchase volumes. The team will also look into the inventory system to avoid wastage and spoilage, according to Banayo. The NFA chief said he would also ask the team to look into the methods and procedures used in selling rice stocks, and into allegations of past anomalies in the agency he now heads. The Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation will assist the team that will be responsible for doing the core systems audit of the NFA while the Commission on Audit will look into the food agency’s funds and financial activities. There are reports that 400,000 to 500,000 MT of rice, or 8 million to 10 million sacks, are smuggled annually into the country, Banayo said. He assured the public that under the Aquino administration, no rotten NFA rice has yet found its way into the market. For 2011, the Philippines will import less rice. Banayo said the government has yet to determine how much rice to import next year. The volume would be based on a final assessment of how the El Niño-induced dry spell and the incoming wet season would influence the harvest in the current crop season. It was unlikely that the NFA would be able to pay its P176- billion debt, Banayo said. He vowed to ensure that the agency would incur less debt under his watch. Not rotting NFA spokesperson Rex Estoperez, meanwhile, said that the agency welcomed an auditing to determine if there was over-importation during the past months. “The government can take a look at our warehouses and see kung nabu-bulukan nga tayo ng bigas. If there is indeed such a case, dapat talaga kasuhan lahat ng accountable ditto," he said in a separate interview Tuesday. Estoperez suggested that the government review the NFA mandate to raise its efficiency in assuring the country’s food supply. Lawyer Halil Al Rashid Lucman, director of NFA’s Industry Services Department, said that he was “hurt" by the issues being hurled against the agency. The NFA official said President Aquino might not have been sufficiently informed on the oversupply of rice he mentioned in the SONA. “Wala namang oversupply. Hindi sinadya ng NFA at hindi binulok ang bigas. Marami kasi riyan na nabasa ng bagyong Ondoy. Hindi namin ito-tolerate na may nabubulok na lang," he said. Lucman, who is now 30 years with the agency, added that NFA usually use supplies affected by storms as fertilizer and fishmeal to limit wastage. “[I'm not saying] that the reporting was wrong. Ang masakit lang talaga, sana lang, whoever gave the information to the President [should have] also identified the cause of the supposed rotting," he said. —With Andreo Calonzo/VS, GMANews.TV