NFA rice (File photo by RAFFY LERMA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines – National Food Authority Assistant Administrator for Finance and Administration Piolito Santos was designated officer-in-charge of the food agency while its administrator, Roderico Bioco, is under a six-month preventive suspension.
The NFA Council appointed Santos during its emergency meeting on Wednesday.
Bioco and 138 other officials and employees of the NFA were placed under preventive suspension amid ongoing investigation of the alleged anomalous sale of the government’s rice buffer stocks.
READ: NFA chief, 138 employees suspended over rice row
In an interview following his appointment, Santos promised of “a fair and very responsible leadership” of the agency under his watch.
Change in system
He said his function as NFA OIC administrator will involve “routinary matters” but “we are requesting some functions” to ensure the continued operations of the NFA, especially since the suspension order included warehouse supervisors nationwide.
The NFA also intends to change the process of selling rice in its outlets so that problems encountered in the past will not happen again.
The Department of Agriculture said the NFA’s operations would not be disrupted despite the massive suspensions, which stemmed from a letter-complaint that claimed that Bioco and his assistant administrators authorized the sale of allegedly aging rice stocks to select traders at low prices without securing the NFA Council’s approval.
The Ombudsman and the DA are conducting investigations into all NFA transactions since 2019.