National food agency has US bank account but . . .

National Food Authority (NFA) assistant administrator for finance Narciso Alano clarified yesterday that the agency, indeed, has an account with the Union Bank of California but the deposits are not the proceeds of rice sales obtained under the US Public Law 480.

The amounts of $186,000 and $77,000 deposited in March and August, respectively, alleged to be proceeds of rice sales stashed under the NFA account, actually represent despatch earnings in the agency’s favor for unloading shipments on a shorter period of time, Alano said in a statement.

Alano said 90 percent of the NFA’s unloading operations are fast and efficient, thus earning despatch money for the government.

Exceeding the allowed unloading time would mean payment of demurrhage on the part of NFA or a loss to the government.

The account, Alano said, was opened in 1982, with authority from the Central Bank of the Philippines, when the agency was still importing wheat, corn and other cereals from the United States. The NFA has since maintained the account for its trade transactions with foreign suppliers.

Maintaining the account, Alano said, has been advantageous to the Philippine government.

"It shields our dollar deposits against exchange rate fluctuations. And we save on cost because the bank allows overnight placement of funds. It also facilitates transactions because our foreign suppliers are immediately assured of the availability of funds for the commodities they will sell to the Philippine government," he said.

"When the NFA was given authority to open an account abroad, the agency’s financial managers looked for a bank that would offer the best terms. Only the Union Bank of California offered overnight placement at that time, that was why we placed our money there for the greater benefit of the government and the Filipino people," Alano said.

He said interested parties can look into the NFA’s financial statements which are periodically submitted to the Commission on Audit, the Department of Budget and Management and Congress "to prove that said account is not hidden and is fully accounted for."