De Lima seeks probe of NFA rice purchases

Amid reports of the country’s rice buffer stock being wiped out, Sen. Leila de Lima on Tuesday pushed for a Senate inquiry on the procurement program of the National Food Authority (NFA) to guard against corruption and abuse.

Through Senate Resolution No. 720, the detained senator asked her colleagues to look into NFA’s procurement processes to ensure transparency and accountability.

She cited reports about a confidential memo by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco to President Rodrigo Duterte accusing NFA Administrator Jason Aquino of selling 10.4 million kilograms of NFA rice in 2017 for P235 million without the approval of the NFA Council. —DJ Yap with a report from Lawrence Llacer