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