Bags of rotten rice buried in La Union

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – About 19,000 bags of rotten Vietnamese rice have been buried in Bacnotan, La Union as these were soaked in seawater after the vessel carrying it ran aground a year ago near Poro Point in La Union.

The 19,000 bags of rotten rice are part of the 100,000 bags loaded on the MV Binh Hoa from Vietnam that were to be delivered to the National Food Authority (NFA) Region 1.

NFA regional director Carlito Co told The STAR yesterday that the bags of rotten rice “were not yet owned by the NFA because they had not yet reached the agency’s warehouses.”

Co clarified that the NFA rejects rice that is not of good quality and “we are just assisting the supplier in the dumping.” The supplier sent its representatives and insurer for negotiations for the dumping.

Co said that 40,000 bags of rice were soaked, but only 19,000 were determined by NFA technical personnel to be unfit for human consumption. The rotten rice would be used as organic fertilizer.

There were complaints about the foul odor emitted by the rotten rice in the area where the ship ran aground.

The disposal started last week, but it was stopped for three days after workers transferring the rice to a barge complained about a foul odor. The NFA had to look for a forklift to facilitate the transfer.

Co said the dump is in isolated area in Bacnotan.