Senators vow to unmask rice cartel financiers

MANILA, Philippines - Senators vowed yesterday to unmask the financiers of an alleged rice cartel involving international groups.

At the resumption of the Senate probe on the Bureau of Customs (BOC)’s seizure of 420,000 sacks of rice from India last April, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III identified supposedly undercapitalized firms and/or cooperatives which were able to pay multimillion service fees to cover their importations.

Guingona also lambasted National Food Authority (NFA) administrator Angelito Banayo for the agency’s alleged failure to practice due diligence in verifying the status of the firms and cooperatives.

Banayo and the head of Amira Foods of India, the supposed owner of the rice shipment from India, were not present at the hearing.

Guingona said among the importers are King Casey Trading, Loui London, St. Andrews Field Grains and Cereals

Trading, Wish Granted Enterprises, Montevallo Granted Enterprises, Formosa MPC, Riverview MPC, Ugnayang Magsasaka sa Kaunlaran MPC, GPI San Miguel MPC, St. Dominique Rice and Food Stuff Enterprises and Pure Country Trading.

He said there were also eight firms identified as Visayas and Mindanao rice importers. They are the Chon Buri Trading, Mahindra Rice and Food Trading, Nemic Fusion Rice and Grains Enterprises, West Point Rice and Cereals, Jaded Ranch Grains and Cereals Trading, Red Mountain Grain and Cereal Dealer, Sitio Muzon Farmers multipurpose cooperative and Sta. Cecilia MPC.

Guingona said 10 firms were able to get importation certifications one day after the publication of invitation to bid were announced by the NFA.

Dig deeper

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile called for a deeper probe on rice smuggling when one of the importers identified as Magdangal Diego Maralit Bayani III, of St. Andrews Field Grains and Cereal Trading, refused to reveal his financiers and business partners.

“These are hao shiao (dubious) organizations, undercapitalized, thinly capitalized enterprises and yet they are doing big business. Who are the people behind you?” Enrile asked.

“What is this cartel, is this a syndicate? Do we have a syndicate in the country operating to control the rice business, affecting our people?” he added.

“I think we are uncovering here a bigger problem than we have started to uncover... We will force you to tell us the truth. You can go to the courts, to SC (Supreme Court) if you want, to protect your rights but we will compel you to tell us the truth. We are not doing this for ourselves, we are doing this for our people,” he said.

In his slide presentation, Guingona said those who won importation licenses are not capable of paying the service fees ranging from P50 million to P69 million.

“Imagine a bidder with only about P50,000 published capital can pay service fee amounting to P50 to P69 million. And we are not talking of just one bidder here but numerous. This is quite anomalous,” Guingona said.

Vietnam groupaVSFC). These are Formosa MPC, Sitio Muzon MOC, Mahindra Rice, St. Dominique, Wish Granted, King Casey Trading, Montevallo Enterprises, Riverview MPC, Red Mountain and West Point Rice.

The firms got their individual certification from VSFC on March 13, 2012 a day after the publication of invitation to bid.

Enrile also called on concerned authorities to coordinate with the consulate of Vietnam.

“What is the Vietnam Southern Foods Corp.? Is it a legitimate company in Vietnam or is this just a dummy corporation? We should check with Customs authorities of Vietnam. We are all members of ASEAN,” Enrile said.

“It is doubtful whether they (Vietnam government) will do this intentionally. Maybe somebody is manipulating this. Better ask the consulate of Vietnam,” Enrile told the committee.

Guingona also asked the NFA to diligently check the background of its rice bidders and put an end to the seeming control of the few unscrupulous entities in the rice importation process.

Guingona said NFA officials might have been blindsided by unscrupulous individuals who want to gain control of the country’s rice importation program by using the name of cooperatives or submitting false documentation.

Albay shipment

Enrile also requested the Senate panel to look into the rice cargos seized by the Bureau of Customs in Albay in recent months.

“May I request Mr. Chairman, we get the addresses of these cooperatives, we send them an invitation to appear here or their representatives to find out whether indeed they imported these, or there were negotiations with others covering the importation of this quantity of rice that entered the Port of Legaspi,” Enrile said.

“We want to know who are the financiers of this importation. If these cooperatives are not financially capable to cover the cost of these importations, then we want also to know the background of the five cooperatives, whether they are the same as those pointed to us by the chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee as undercapitalized,” he said.

Enrile did not rule out that the “syndicate” might also be using big public relations firms to counter the negative publicity brought out by the recent raids and the Senate inquiry.

“I am not accusing anybody, I am just surmising. This is my surmise and I hope I am wrong. I think we have to be very, very careful about this. Nonetheless, we have to uncover this whole thing. We have to go deeper into the mire that is before us,” he said.