SENATOR KIKO PANGILINAN: NFA CHARTER SHOULD BE REVIEWED
IN VIEW OF RICE SCAM

As Senate Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, we will not hesitate to conduct an investigation

We are closely monitoring the matter and have in fact been directly in touch with NFA administrator Lito Banayo. We will not hesitate to conduct a separate investigation on the matter should we feel the need for the senate to step in. In the meantime, we have requested NFA to furnish us a copy of their report so we can scrutinize it.

We are also exploring the possibility of revisiting the law that created the NFA with the end in view of proposing amendments that would prevent abuses in the NFA. We are also looking at amendments that would retool the NFA's mandate to make it more relevant to the existing demands of the agriculture sector, particularly our farmers and fisherfolk. The charter of the NFA is over three decades old. It may be time to revise it given the many changes that have taken place in the agriculture and food sector these past several decades