Lawmaker seeks probe of rice imports bidding

MANILA, Philippines - Nueva Ecija Rep. Edno Joson urged the House agriculture committee yesterday to look into the bidding for rice imports that the National Food Authority (NFA) is conducting.

He made the call after receiving complaints from rice traders in his province about certain irregularities in the bidding process.

Joson, who was NFA administrator during the Estrada administration, said the food agency is apparently rushing the importation of rice to shore up local stocks in the wake of El Niño or dry spell, which has damaged crops in many provinces.

“But they should follow the rules and not resort to short cuts to favor certain rice importers,” he said.

Based on the complaints he received, Joson said the NFA put out an advertisement in The STAR last Friday informing private traders that it would award importation contracts yesterday.

The ad also contained the bidding rules. However, in the afternoon of the same day, the agency amended the rules by requiring traders to obtain priority numbers on a first-come, first-served basis before the start of the bidding and awarding.

The NFA posted the amendment in its website also on Friday afternoon after deciding to introduce it.

The complaining rice traders said the food agency should have put out another newspaper advertisement containing the amendment to its bidding rules and not just posted it on its website.

They said not many interested bidders saw and read the website posting over the weekend.

Joson said the NFA should have given all interested parties enough time to bid for the privilege to import rice so it can get the best price.

“There was no harm in postponing the bidding for a few days to give all parties sufficient notice through advertisements. What were they rushing? They could have held it later this week after giving sufficient notice,” he said.

He said he suspected that some NFA officials were out to favor certain traders by putting out an advertisement toward the weekend, then making a last-minute amendment and posting it only on the agency’s website.

He said the House agriculture committee should find out the NFA complied with bidding requirements contained in the Procurement Law. 

It should also find out if there were favored bidders, he added.