PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday placed the National Food Authority under the Department of Agriculture and named Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol as the new chairman of the NFA Council in place of Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the NFA, the Philippine Coconut Authority, and the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA) are now attached agencies of the DA, and clarified that the NFA Council will not be abolished as it can only be removed through legislation.
During the NFA Council meeting in Malacañang on Monday, Roque said the Development Bank of the Philippines asked to be removed from the council to focus on its other projects, a request that was granted.
“The Department of Social Welfare and Development will take the place of DBP,” Roque said.
Evasco used to supervise the NFA on the strength of Executive Order 1 signed by President Duterte in 2016.
The President also approved the NFA plan to import 250,000 metric tons of rice through a government-to-government agreement to replenish the rice inventory. The imported rice is set to arrive soon, Roque said.
In a statement, Evasco, who used to supervise over 11 other government agencies, said he respected the President’s decision and thanked him for giving him the opportunity to lead the council, which decides on rice importation matters.
“We have put in place several policy guidelines that have provided a more transparent, competitive, inclusive and accountable system of procurement and distribution of NFA rice as a result of more than 20 council meetings since my designation by the President as NFA Council chair,” Evasco, who served as Duterte’s national campaign manager in the May 2016 elections, said.
He also said the importation of close to 805,200 metric tons of minimum access volume rice without a centavo spent by government is also an attempt by the council and this administration to not add to the liabilities it has incurred since its creation through Presidential Decree 1770.
“Finally we have been able to also make sure that decisions of the council are collegial in nature and bring together the critical and evidence-based reports and inputs coming from National Economic and Development Authority, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Trade and Industry and even our banking institutions in the Board, namely the Land Bank of the Philippines and The Development Bank of the Philippines while building on the reports provided to us by NFA management.”
The Cabinet secretary also urged Piñol “to take advantage of what we have started and continue the systems transformation can so that it can take root in NFA.”
Evasco said he did nothing wrong in the government and will continue to serve the Duterte administration.
“I can never break the good relationship I have with the President, a relationship we have built through the years with the people we work and serve with. I can never put my family in a position of compromise after all the support, sacrifice and love they have given to me as I continue to serve this government and the people,” Evasco added.
Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said Evasco’s removal from the NFA Council was a loss in the fight against corruption in the importation and management of rice.
During his time in the NFA Council, Evasco proved his dedication to providing checks and balances to the NFA, Aquino said.
“Without the checks and balances that Evasco endeavored to implement, corrupt deals will continue unpunished,” he said.
Senator Francis Pangilinan said NFA Administrator Jason Aquino was the clear winner, while the Filipino rice consumer was the loser in Evasco’s removal from the NFA Council.
Pangilinan, who used to head the NFA Council under the previous government, questioned the decision to boot out Evasco and keep Aquino.
“Why was the one with a clean track record and who investigated illegal acts at the NFA removed, while the one who was tainted by corruption supported?” Pangilinan said in Filipino. “Where is the sincerity of this government to go after the corrupt if it does not support its allies who are clean?”
At a Senate hearing, grains retailers’ organizations said NFA rice was being sold to commercial traders. Aquino also failed to explain the purported shortage in buffer stock when the NFA rice distribution had gone up 245 percent.