Gov’t urged to sell P1.4 B smuggled rice

MANILA, Philippines - The government was urged yesterday to sell smuggled rice worth P1.4 billion to bring down the staple’s retail price, which has gone up by at least P2 per kilo.

“Government should draw on some 600,000 sacks of confiscated rice to thwart any upward pressure on prices,” Rep. Arnel Ty of the party-list group Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association said.

He said the huge volume of confiscated Vietnam rice would soon rot if not sold or given away for free.

The rice is now under the custody of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which plans to sell it through public bidding. However, the National Food Authority (NFA) has offered to buy it at a negotiated price and resell it to the public.         

“The NFA should be allowed to purchase the rice from the BOC under an agency-to-agency contract. Then the NFA should turn around and release the rice into the open market. This will boost supply and ease prices,” Ty said.

An agency-to-agency agreement would be an acceptable mode of government procurement under the law, subject to certain conditions, according to the Department of Justice, he said.

 Government will merely be transferring money from one pocket to another under an agency-to-agency procurement, he said.

 It is not clear why rice prices have gone up. Some traders attribute the increase to seasonal factors.

 In March, the NFA said it would have to import some 187,000 metric tons (MT) of rice this year to augment the country’s stockpile.

Ty said the smuggled rice in the BOC’s custody consists of around 500,000 bags seized in Cebu City in March this year.

Additionally, the BOC also has possession of 94,000 bags, also from Vietnam. The cargo was confiscated in Legazpi City in September last year.

 The value of the two shipments is estimated at P1.4 billion.

Shortly after President Aquino assumed the presidency in 2010, he found out that thousands of sacks of imported rice were rotting in NFA warehouses.

In at least two SONAs (State of the Nation Address), he denounced the Arroyo administration for over-importing rice. He hinted that some corrupt officials made money from excess importation and vowed to bring charges against them.