Lies to live with FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 09/23/2010

Lies to live with

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

09/23/2010
First, he claimed that tons and tons of rotting rice were stored in the National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses, gleefully informing media of the waste of tens of millions in public money with the Arroyo administration’s penchant for over importing rice that is moreover no longer edible.

He now says that the NFA needs to import some 1.5 million tons of rice in the last quarter of the year, for next year’s rice stock.

NFA chief Lito Banayo, whose agency has been given a zero budget by his president, is now singing a different tune and that tune is no different from the tune sang by the former NFA chief, as he is now talking of importing 1.5 million metric tons of rice, even when earlier he had claimed that there is no need to import rice, as the NFA warehouses were stacked ceiling high with rice, plus his claim of the Department of Social Welfare and Development buying rice from the NFA for distribution to the school children. So why import rice again?

What it looks like is that Banayo wanted to look good before the media, and blame the previous administration of Gloria Arroyo for making money on the over importation of rice that would merely be left to rot.

Later, when reporters asked Banayo to identify just which warehouses were keeping the stock of rice, plus the rotting rice, Banayo hedged, saying that he is having an audit team go through the rice stock..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100923com2.html