COA flags NFA over rice buffer stock shortage, procurement issues

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The Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the National Food Authority (NFA) for failing to meet the mandated rice buffer stock in 2025.

In a "24 Oras" report by Mariz Umali, state auditors found that the NFA stockpiled only 408,944 metric tons, enough to last 10.68 days. The amended Rice Tariffication Law mandated that stocks should last 15 days.

State auditors found that this shortage was partly due to the NFA failing to meet its target procurement of palay.

In 2025, the NFA was only able to procure 77% of the targeted 545,000 metric tons.

The NFA had been given P14 billion in subsidies from 2024 to 2025, but was only able to utilize around P10 billion of this to buy palay.

COA also found that the NFA was buying rice at a higher procurement cost of P23.53 per kilo, which is higher than the average farmgate price of P17.70 per kilo reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said that the funds for procurement were not increased.

“Ang money na yun, pang-procure lang ng palay. Specific for palay,” Lacson said. (That money is just to procure palay.)

COA also flagged NFA rice that has been in storage for too long. Almost 6.8 million bags of palay and 1.9 million bags of milled rice were stored past the maximum storage period.

This raised concerns about quality deterioration, lowered market value, increased storage and maintenance costs, limited warehouse capacity, and the wastage of public resources.

“Mag-deteriorate yan. Pero yung nakita nila na ’yan na 2025, na-solve na natin ’yan; na-report ko nga P1.1 billion solved through auction, tapos ginigiling na natin lahat ng natirang mga palay,” Lacson said.

(It would deteriorate. But when they saw that in 2025, we solved that and P1.1 billion was solved through auctioning and then the rest of the leftover palay was grounded.)

The NFA is currently seeking to amend the law that allows it to put rice back into the market to solve the problem of deteriorating stocks.

The NFA and the Department of Agriculture are preparing for the effects of the expected Super El Niño, which will affect the country until the first quarter of 2027.

Lacson said that the biggest danger is the palay crops that are still in the vegetative stage.

“Kung ano talaga yung mahihit nang matindi ng El Niño rather than put money there and masayang lang, lagay mo na dun sa hindi masyadong mahihit, doblehin mo na assistance dun para dun bumawi ng volume ng production,” Lacson said.

(Whatever El Niño will hit, rather than put money there and it would go to waste, put it somewhere where it would not hit as hard, double the assistance there to make up for the lost volume of production.)

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said that assistance are in place for areas that will be affected.

“As far as rice is concerned, we have enough buffer stocks now…our worst estimates now say that even by January, by the end of December we will still have 75 days' worth of stocks,” Laurel said.—Jean Mangaluz/LDF, GMA News