Rotting rice released in good condition

Please allow us to clarify certain points in a news item titled “Execs probe rotting rice in Antique” (Across the Nation, 3/9/15).

Last Dec. 30, the National Food Authority (NFA) received a letter from the office of then Antique Gov. Exequiel B. Javier requesting 400 bags of rice (to be used for relief assistance) in preparation for Tropical Storm “Seniang” which was forecast to hit the area. The rice was released on the same day with Authority to Issue (AI) No. 21764090 and Warehouse Stock Issue (WSI) No. 22619406-407.

The stocks were in “good condition and free from infestation” when they were released to the requesting party as expressly written on the back of the WSI document, which was signed by Art Teem Gidaya, administrative assistant from the office of Governor Javier, upon receipt of the rice.

After the rice was released from the NFA, we had no idea how they were stored. The damp condition and lack of air ventilation at the comfort rooms of the Evelio B. Javier Sports Complex may have caused the infestation and fast deterioration of the rice stocks.

Javier was relieved in February 2015 after losing an election protest and was replaced by Gov. Rhodora Cadiao, who discovered the allegedly rotting rice stocks.

The NFA has offered remedial measures and is willing to provide the needed services to save the rice stocks from further deterioration. However, the office of Governor Cadiao is bent on filing a case against those responsible for the neglect. There are allegations that the stocks were old as the sacks were marked November 2013. However, NFA Antique immediately clarified with the office of the governor that the dates on the sacks mark the dates the sacks were manufactured, not the milling dates of the rice inside them.

The NFA categorically denies any role in this “rotting rice” fiasco. The agency’s only involvement is that it acted immediately and in good faith in releasing the rice stocks upon the request of the local government. Officials of NFA Antique are willing to attend any proceeding to which they may be invited, to shed light on this issue.

—ANGEL G. IMPERIAL JR., acting department manager, Public Affairs Department, National Food Authority