Source: PTV FB
Piolito Santos appointed OIC of NFA
THE National Food Authority (NFA) Council has appointed Piolito Santos as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the agency.
The appointment of Santos, who is the NFA assistant administrator for finance and administration, came following the preventive suspension of NFA Administrator Roderico Bioco.
The Office of the Ombudsman on Monday suspended Bioco and 138 officials and employees, in connection with the ongoing investigation on the controversial disposition of rice buffer stocks in a transaction allegedly disadvantageous to government.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. announced Santos’ designation as acting administrator during a zoom meeting with NFA employees, where he also urged over 2,000 workers of the agency to focus on their jobs and not be distracted by the ongoing Ombudsman investigation.
“The NFA is a very important government agency, especially during calamities and other disasters as well as in the lives of millions of poor Filipinos. We cannot lose heart during this challenging time for the NFA and DA family,” Laurel said.
Santos is a career service officer who has spent four decades with the NFA and is scheduled to retire in May.
He has a bachelor degree in Agriculture Business major in Agriculture Economics from the Isabela State University and a masters degree in business administration and a doctorate in Organization Development and Planning from Northeastern College.
The passage of the Rice Tarrification Law in 2019 removed NFA’s rice trading function and limited to maintaining a national buffer stock equivalent to 300,000 metric tons of rice.
