Trader charged for rice smuggling

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) filed yesterday smuggling charges against a businesswoman for allegedly bringing in illegally P63 million worth of rice from Vietnam.

Peter Manzano, BOC deputy commissioner for revenue collection and monitoring and head of Run After the Smugglers (RATS), said the charges were filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Gemma Aida Belarma, owner of Melma Enterprises.

Belarma allegedly violated section 3601 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines for misdeclaring shipment in an alleged attempt to smuggle rice into the country.

She reportedly smuggled 49,920 sacks of rice placed inside 96 units of 20-footer container vans and declared the shipment as granite slabs, granite tiles, stone slabs and wall insulators.

The shipment, amounting to P63,897.600, arrived at the Port of Cebu in March.

Under the law, all rice importations must be covered by permits from the National Food Authority (NFA).

The shipment would be auctioned off as part of the BOC’s effort to raise revenue, Manzano said.

BOC Commissioner Rufino Biazon has ordered all customs frontline operatives to be on the lookout for more smuggling attempts of food items in the coming weeks with the onset of the Christmas season.

The filing of smuggling charges against Belarma brings to 104 the total number of cases filed by the BOC in Biazon’s two years as Customs chief.

This also brings to 147 the total number of smuggling cases filed by the BOC at the DOJ during the administration of President Aquino.

‘Probe high rice prices’

Meanwhile, two senators want separate inquiries conducted over the high prices of rice, onions and garlic in the market.

Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday called the Department of Agriculture (DA) and NFA to task for their inability to keep rice prices stable after the country was hit by Typhoon Labuyo and Tropical Storm Maring recently.

Legarda has filed Senate Resolution No. 233 “to determine the actual state of the rice supply in the country and the role and policies of the DA and NFA relative to our goal of achieving rice sufficiency in the country.”

She said rice prices have increased by P2 to P5 a kilo last month.

An NFA spokesperson admitted last week that typhoons, which hit major rice-producing provinces in Luzon, might have caused rice prices to increase.

As the agency responsible for ensuring the stability of rice prices, Legarda said the NFA and the DA should anticipate the adverse effects of these weather disturbances on rice supplies and take the necessary measures to prevent price increases.

Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, said she would ask agriculture officials to explain why the DA and NFA were unable to take action on possible rice shortages despite possessing supply projections showing that the effects of climate change would result in a shortfall in supply.

The 2011-2016 Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP) prepared by the DA provides scenarios that should have allowed agriculture officials to act on possible shortages.

According to the FSSP, this year, if rice supplies are affected by climate change in a high demand environment, there would be a maximum shortfall of 680,000 metric tons.

“While these numbers constitute a worst-case scenario, the DA and NFA should be prepared for the worst and should not use this as an excuse whenever they are unable to meet the targets they themselves set,” Legarda said.

She said the inquiry would provide an opportunity for the Senate “to evaluate the DA and NFA’s projections, consult experts on the soundness of these figures, and see if the DA and the NFA have been doing enough to ensure rice supplies in the face of the negative effects of climate change.”

For her part, Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, sought a Senate inquiry on how the DA issues permits for importation of garlic and onions following reports of a monopoly in the distribution of agricultural products.

Villar filed Senate Resolution No. 238, citing Article XII of the Constitution which states that “the goals of national economy are a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income, and wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people, and an expanding productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially the underprivileged.”

 â€“ With Christina Mendez