Agri group hails SC decision vs traders’ plea on seized rice

ROSALES, Pangasinan , Philippines   â€“ The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) hailed the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) to junk the petition filed by three traders for the release of some 300,000 bags of alleged smuggled rice earlier seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

“This should finally put an end to all misinformation and blatant lies being peddled by smugglers to confuse the public so they can get away with their smuggling activities,” said SINAG chairman Rosendo So, on the junked petition of traders Joseph Ngo, Danilo Galang and Ivy Souza.

In a statement, So said the SC decision was a victory for the local rice industry and a relief for the millions of farmers whose livelihood has been threatened by the rampant rice smuggling.

For two cropping seasons, SINAG said farmers have enjoyed unprecedented good farmgate palay prices, ranging from P22 to P23.50 per kilo, which the group attributed to efforts to curb rice smuggling.

The latest SC decision, according to So, should also pave the way for the speedy resolution of the five cases that his group filed against regional trial court (RTC) judges.

SINAG earlier had filed five administrative cases against four RTC judges for ordering the release of smuggled rice seized by the BOC as the shipments lacked the required import permits.

SINAG filed the administrative cases against Batangas RTC Judge Eutiquio Quitain, Manila RTC Judges Maria Paz Reyes-Yson and Cicero Jurado, and Davao RTC Judge Emmanuel Carpio. 

SINAG said it filed these cases to plug legal loopholes being used by smugglers who run to local courts to legalize their smuggling activities.  

Meanwhile, SINAG is calling on the Agriculture and Health departments to conduct a thorough inspection of all seized imported rice due to food safety and public health concerns.

It said the tests should cover a wide range of food-borne hazards, including chemical contaminants like toxic and pesticide residues, heavy metals and possible infestations.

So said the seized rice may no longer be fit for human consumption for having been stored for a long time.

If the seized rice would pass the inspection and found fit for human consumption, SINAG said this should be sold immediately but only to the Department of Social Work and Development for its continuing relief efforts in disaster-hit areas.

Based on its earlier calculation, SINAG said the 2,000 shipping containers of seized rice amount to almost 50 million kilos of rice or about five days of the country’s total rice consumption.