The Ombudsman-Visayas yesterday started its investigation of allegations against an official of the National Food Authority for favoring some retailers in Cebu on rice allocations.
This was after the NFA Employees Association filed a complaint against Raul Chong, former NFA provincial manager and now NFA assistant regional director, for the alleged irregularity.
Jimmy Ang, one of the association’s directors, yesterday asked Ombudsman director Virginia Palanca Santiago to put Chong under preventive suspension while the administrative complaint against him is being heard.
Santiago however said her office would evaluate first the evidence attached to the complaint against Chong before any action, such as a suspension, would be undertaken.
The employees group accused Chong of favoring several retailers in Cebu, especially the big ones, in the allocation of rice. Most of those reportedly favored by Chong were prominent businessmen who were members of the Grains Retailers of the Philippines.
Chong attended yesterday’s hearing and denied he favored Mrs. Sumalinog on NFA rice allocation over the others.
Chong, in his memorandum last February 5, ordered a weekly allocation of 80 sacks of rice only to eight major markets: T. Padilla, Taboan, Carbon and Warwick barracks—in Cebu City—Tabunok in Talisay City, and those in Consolacion and the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
Ang however alleged that, based on a report last September 5, Chong had allocated as many as 1000 sacks of rice monthly to favored NFA retailers.
A resolution, issued by the employees’ group board last May 17, stated that the association had received reports that (Chong) has been allegedly “fraternizing some retailers in going to Casino and abroad with them.”
Ang submitted additional evidences to support his allegations. One of these is the logbook of NFA security guards noting that a certain Flordelisa Sumalinog rode with Chong in her service vehicle even in the wee hours of the evening and early morning in Saturday and Sunday.
Ang also submitted to the Ombudsman a document showing that Chong, last September, had issued rice allocation to Mrs. Sumalinog of up to 1,000 sacks of rice weekly.
The group then called on Chong to “take prudence on this issue especially that it had been aired because it could possibly tarnish the image of the entire NFA organization.”
Meanwhile, Colonie Enterprises, a pest-control chemicals supplier, filed an injunction case against the NFA and regional director Danilo Barbon to stop the re-bidding of the procurement of chemicals this year.
Colonie, represented by its manager Silvestre Suico, also asked for P100,000 in litigation cost and P1,000 more for every hearing conducted for the case.
Suico alleged that his company, which has been in business for two decades, won the bid for the supply of pest control chemicals to the NFA but Barbon allegedly refused to grant the notice of award.
Barbon however said that he declared failure of bidding because the company allegedly won via misrepresentation while another company had claimed as the exclusive distributor of the chemicals the NFA wanted to procure.
Suico countered that he was not given a chance to explain his side before Barbon declared there was failure of bidding. —Ramil V. Ayuman and Fred P. Languido/RAE