President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday stood firm on the decision to suspend the officials of the National Food Authority (NFA) involved in the anomalous sale of rice.

President Marcos said the government was compelled to impose a “safe measure” in the NFA by suspending those not only involved in various anomalies but also those who committed the act in a “cavalier way.”

In a recorded interview, President Marcos said the situation in the NFA does not only involve anomalous sale of NFA rice but also some procedures within the agency that were undertaken without board approval and proper discussion with the NFA.

He said those transactions also took place without the approval of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and “with the rest of the Cabinet.”

“So, we have taken the safe measure of suspending all of those who have been shown to may have been involved in any of these wrongdoings such as the anomalous sale but also the cavalier way in which the procedures that have been set out in the rules have been ignored,” President Marcos said.

The Office of the Ombudsman suspended for six months NFA administrator Roderico Bioco and NFA assistant administrator for operations John Roberto Hermano along with 12 regional managers, 27 branch managers and 98 warehouse supervisors.

The suspension stemmed from the alleged “disadvantageous sale of rice buffer stocks.” PND