THE Palace on Monday said the Commission on Audit’s (CoA) adverse opinion on the financial statements of Food Terminal, Inc. (FTI) will not affect the government’s program to sell rice at P20 per kilo.
Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro said the Department of Agriculture (DA) had informed Malacañang that FTI already addressed the audit findings through an agency action plan submitted to the state auditor on Sept. 29.
“And this adverse opinion, as we have said, has already been addressed; it will not affect the distribution and sale of rice at 20 pesos per kilo,” Ms. Castro said in Filipino during a press briefing.
The adverse opinion concerned P5.43 billion in unsubstantiated trust liabilities involving the DA.
Ms. Castro also confirmed that Malacañang was aware of the issue involving a shipment of rice imported from Vietnam that the DA had stopped from entering the country.
She said Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. had ordered the shipment’s return because it lacked the necessary documentation.
“Secretary Tiu Laurel himself explicitly stated that he personally blocked this rice from entering — making it clear that the ship is being sent back due to a lack of proper documentation,” she said, relaying the DA’s response. — Pexcel John Bacon