NFA Missed 2025 Rice Buffer Stock Target - CoA

The National Food Authority (NFA) failed to meet its mandated rice buffer stock level in 2025 after missing palay (unmilled rice) procurement targets, the Commission on Audit (CoA) said. In its 2025 annual audit report, CoA said the NFA’s monthly average rice buffer stock stood at 408,944 metric tons (MT), equivalent to 10.68 days of average daily consumption requirement, below the 15-day level prescribed by law. The agency procured only 420,013 MT of palay, or 77.07% of its 545,000-MT target, despite having P9 billion in national government subsidy for 2025 and P5.66 billion in unused subsidy from 2024 carrying over into the year. CoA urged the NFA to intensify palay procurement, particularly in Luzon, to ensure sufficient buffer stocks for disaster response and other emergencies. The audit also found that 6.809 million bags of unmilled rice and 1.859 million bags of milled rice remained in storage beyond the allowable maximum periods of six months and three months, respectively. “Consequently, the prolonged storage of aging palay and rice stocks increased the likelihood of quality deterioration, reduced their market value, increased storage and maintenance costs, constrained warehouse capacity needed for palay procurement, and exposed the government to potential losses and wastage of public resources,” CoA said. Auditors attributed the buildup partly to the centralized conduct of public auctions at the NFA central office, restrictions on direct sales to retail consumers and low participation by private millers. CoA recommended allowing regional offices to conduct auctions and simplifying bidding procedures for local cooperatives. It also suggested seeking congressional authority to allow the direct distribution of aging stocks to consumers during emergencies. In the same report, CoA said the NFA also encountered delays in infrastructure projects, with nine projects worth P2.042 billion not completed on time as of Dec. 31, 2025. Their accomplishment rates ranged from 8.15% to 70.68%, with delays of 28 to 171 calendar days. Projects involving the installation and commissioning of rice mills and grain dryers, costing P4.65 billion, were also delayed, CoA said. The audit prompted CoA to issue a qualified opinion on the NFA’s 2025 financial statements after finding accounting discrepancies involving billions of pesos. Intra-agency receivables of P12.64 billion and intra-agency payables of P11.913 billion had not been eliminated from the combined financial statements, resulting in the overstatement of the respective accounts and accumulated surplus or deficit. It also identified P842.74 million in stock shortages without formal examination or computation of tolerable allowances and a P667.495-million impairment provision for missing stock accountability that it said was unauthorized. “These conditions are not in conformity with paragraphs 15 and 29 of IPSAS 1 and deprived the intended users of the financial statements of relevant information in making economic decisions,” auditors said. The NFA ended 2025 with P42.794 billion in total assets and P131.843 billion in total liabilities, resulting in an equity deficiency of P89.05 billion.