Senate summons NFA chief on rice smuggling

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate is again inviting former National Food Authority (NFA) administrator Angelito Banayo to its investigation into rice smuggling at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) after a witness implicated him yesterday in some anomalous transactions in the agency that he used to head.

Banayo would be asked to explain his side on allegations that he gave preferential treatment to a group of cooperatives in connection with the P500-million importation of rice from India.

The STAR tried to reach Banayo but was told by close allies that he would  issue a formal statement today.

At one point during the hearing yesterday, a witness revealed that about P355 million may have changed hands for the processing of importation papers and release of the rice shipment using farmers’ cooperatives as “dummies.”

Senate resource person Elizabeth Faustino, also a representative of a federation of cooperatives, admitted earning P1.8 million for facilitating the “transactions.”

The late Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) administrator Nixon Kua, a close associate of Banayo, was also tagged as a financier and middleman for the shipment. 

The Bureau of Customs seized about 450,000 50-kilogram sacks of rice abandoned at the Subic Freeport in Zambales in April.

“It’s Mr. Kua who was helping us. What I am saying is we were helping one another prepare documents,” Faustino said in Filipino.

Kua was killed in what police claimed was a robbery attempt at his home inside an exclusive subdivision in Calamba, Laguna last July, or about the same time the Senate committee on food and agriculture chaired by Sen. Francis Pangilinan began its probe on the suspected smuggling syndicate at SBMA.

Apart from Banayo, the Senate is also inviting businessman Danilo Garcia, alleged financier of Magdangal Maralit Bayani III of cooperative St. Andrew Field Grains and Cereal Trading.

Bayani spilled the beans on Garcia and Kua after 45 days in detention at the Senate for contempt.

In one of his affidavits submitted to the Senate committee, Bayani said Kua had asked him if he was interested in getting an allocation of the rice stocks at Subic. 

Bayani testified that Kua “offered” the rice supply to him.

“As far as I know he (Kua) was an agent. He approached me to inquire about any interested buyer,” Bayani said while being grilled by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Rice importer and trader Vicente Cuevas III also admitted knowing Kua, way back when the latter was still head of the Philippine Tourism Authority.

Cuevas’ name cropped up in previous hearings as among the businessmen engaged in rice trading in the country, including SBMA.

During the resumption of the Senate hearing yesterday, Faustino pointed to Kua as the financier and middleman for the multi-million Subic rice shipment.

According to Faustino, the cooperative gets P5 for every sack of rice. P1.50 of the amount would go to Faustino while the rest would go to every cooperative involved in the transaction.

Faustino said she does not know where the rice supply goes once the cooperative facilitates its release from the SBMA port.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada asked Bayani if he was “aware that (Kua) was killed.” Bayani said yes.

According to Bayani, Kua approached him and informed him that there were still available sacks of rice at SBMA. 

Kua also assured him that the rice supply had documents to back up the application of import permit.

“You mean in all the importations that you handled, it was Mr. Kua who was giving money for service fee and you didn’t know who bought the rice offered to you?” Enrile asked Faustino.

Pangilinan said Banayo would be asked how “the whole process precisely is conducted and then certified by and accredited by the NFA.”

“So we’d like to hear from him his response here at the latest findings of the committee based on the testimonies (of new witnesses),” Pangilinan said.