His statement was prompted by allegations of NFA Council chairman and Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. of “flagrant corruption to the detriment of the country’s food security” and proposed to create a special committee to investigate the culprits. The NFA head noted that government rice importation has always been done in a transparent manner through a process of inter-agency assessment, recommendation and approval from the National Food Security Committee (NFSC) to the NFA Council to Malacañang. The NFSC recommendation is further deliberated by the NFA Council, composed of the Cabinet Secretary as chairman with the NFA administrator as vice chairman. “All of us are concerned about our national food security. “Still and all, a transparent and objective investigation into these allegations against the NFA officials is a welcome opportunity for us to clear our names,” Aquino said.

Source: Manila Times March 07, 2017 16:20 UTC