Ombudsman Samuel Martires denied that he labeled the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agency, the National Food Authority (NFA), as the most corrupt government agencies.
He said the statement was taken out of context, emphasizing that corruption exists across multiple agencies, not just within those under the DA.
“In fairness to the new leadership of the Department of Agriculture, since the issue of rice and onion smuggling was investigated, the new head of the agency, Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., has strengthened the DA’s Inspectorate and Enforcement Division. As seen in the news, they’ve already apprehended four cases of agricultural smuggling in Subic,” Martires said.
He said Tiu Laurel has been highly cooperative in ongoing investigations and proactively provided reports to the Ombudsman’s office.
“I am not saying they are the most corrupt. No. When you talk about the most corrupt government agency, you have to consider agencies beyond those located in Quezon Memorial Circle,” he said.
Tiu Laurel welcomed the Ombudsman’s clarification, reaffirming his commitment to rooting out corruption within the DA.
“Since I assumed office, we have worked tirelessly to clean our ranks. We have been fully cooperative with the Ombudsman—and this has been attested to—in its ongoing investigations into alleged corruption within the DA,” said Tiu Laurel, who took office in November 2023.
Tiu Laurel enforced the Ombudsman’s preventive suspensions against 139 NFA officials over alleged illegal rice stock sales, despite operational challenges, while ramping up its anti-smuggling efforts and seizing billions of pesos worth of illicit goods, blacklisting importers, and filing legal cases.
The DA, in coordination with the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), recently confiscated containers of frozen mackerel and instituted new policy reforms, including adjustments to pork import rules and the suspension of round scad (galunggong) imports to prevent market manipulation.
The revitalized Regional Agricultural and Fishery Council, led by former Agriculture undersecretary Ernesto Ordonez, now oversees DA procurement and project implementation to enhance accountability.
