NFA building up plunder case vs employee over unexplained missing rice stocks

The National Food Authority (NFA) is set to file a plunder case before the Office of the Ombudsman against a “middle-level” employee after its “intensified” audit discovered over P50 million worth of unexplained loss of rice stocks dating back to 2021.

“We will file very soon… the case build-up is already in final stages. We will file a plunder case against one of our employees… Very soon we will file to the Ombudsman,” NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said, in a mix of English and Filipino, at a press conference in Quezon City on Friday.

Lacson did not identify the NFA employee in question, but said the person is a “middle-level” personnel, who was an “accountable officer” in one of the agency’s warehouses.

The NFA chief said the employee’s scheme was a “multi-year action” spanning back to 2021, in unexplained lost rice stocks.

Asked how much was the monetary value of the unexplained lost rice stocks, Lacson said, “It’s more than P50 million, roughly P53 million.”

“It was accumulated over the year and after our intensified audit, we gathered all the documents and very soon we will file the case,” he said.

Lacson said the employee was still active, but was transferred to a different role in which the personnel cannot exert influence while investigation and case build-up is ongoing.

“As soon as the case is filed, that employee will be suspended,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NFA chief said the agency’s rice buffer stocks in its warehouses are “very healthy” at 460,000 metric tons, equivalent to 12.03 days worth of consumption. — BAP, GMA Integrated News