MANILA -- A House panel is set to begin on Thursday its investigation into the alleged improper sale of the National Food Authority’s rice buffer stocks, after the Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of NFA’s chief and over a hundred employees of the agency.

“‘Yung ating hinahangad dito is malaman kung ano pa ba ang nagiging function ng NFA? Ano ba kulang o are they still relevant to the time?” House Committee on Agriculture and Food Chairperson and Quezon First District Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga said on Wednesday.

“Wala pong sasantuhin, walang sisinuhin,” he said in a press conference. 

The invited guests include NFA Administrator Roderico Bioco and other agency officials, members of the NFA Council, rice traders and farmers groups.

AGRI party-list Representative Wilbert Lee filed on Tuesday a resolution urging the appropriate House committee to look into the matter in aid of legislation, “with the end in view of exacting accountability and proposing remedial legislation in optimizing rice reserves and supply in the country”.

“In order to restore the trust of the public in the NFA, there needs to be a revamp and the first step to that is to remove all officials involved in anomalies,” Lee said. 

NFA can still function despite mass suspension of personnel