Military probes fake rice coupons in Mindanao

A food subsidy program for families of soldiers on combat duty in Mindanao has been suspended due to suspicion of widespread corruption, the military said yesterday.

The families of soldiers assigned to Mindanao are entitled to a rice allowance coupon every month, which they can swap for a 50-kilogram bag of the staple cereal with the state-owned monopoly trader National Food Authority.

The program was suspended after the discovery of fake coupons in Cotabato City, military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said in a statement.

"About a thousand (coupons) are feared to have been faked," and an inquiry has been launched, he added.

Three of the Army’s nine combat divisions, as well as a number of Marine brigades, are permanently deployed on Mindanao, which has been wracked by decades of Muslim separatist and communist insurgencies. — Christina Mendez, AFP