More than 1,000 jobs at NFA to be erased as rice import limits removed

The Governance Commission for Government Owned or Controlled Corporations (GCG) has slashed to 2,644 the number of regular positions in the National Food Authority (NFA) which now has a leaner role after the lifting of  volume restrictions on rice importation through the Rice Tariffication Act.

In a memo dated Jan. 7, the GCG set into motion the NFA’s restructuring mandated by Republic Act No. 11203, which removed volume limits on rice imports and set tariffs.

The Rice Tariffication Act signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019 removed the NFA’s commercial functions and regulatory powers, retaining only its mandate to stock up on rice for emergencies.

In a restructuring plan proposed by the NFA to the GCG in May 2019, the NFA sought to reduce regular employee positions to 3,543 from 4,436 prior to the Rice Tariffication Act.

By June 2019, the NFA revised its proposed staffing pattern to a lower 3,191 regular positions.

The GCG, however, approved just 2,644 regular positions in the NFA’s 22 units, its central office, 15 regional offices and 45 branch offices.

The GCG order was signed by chair Samuel G. Dagpin, commissioners Michael P. Cloribel and Marites C. Doral, as well as its two ex-officio members, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and Acting Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado.

As 1,792 regular jobs will be shed, the GCG said “the NFA Council, through the administrator, shall be accountable for the payment of separation benefits.”

The new staffing pattern of the NFA would start within two months from the approval by the Office of the President of the NFA’s separation package.

The GCG said vacant positions at NFA, under the new structure, would be “programmed to ensure overall financial viability” of NFA operations.

Funding for regular positions at the NFA would come from the agency’s operating budget, the GCG said.

Edited by TSB