SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez has assured Filipino consumers that the surprise inspections at warehouses holding rice stocks last week were not a one-hit wonder and that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) would continue to carry out more inspections.
Romualdez, in a statement, said the House of Representatives will also ensure that rice will not experience the same fate as onions, which went out of style last year when they hit ludicrous costs of over P700 per kilo.
Romualdez said he agrees with the remark of House Committee on Agriculture and Food Chairman Wilfrido Mark Enverga, that “rice hoarding is economic sabotage in its highest degree.”
“Shame on us, the officials in government, if we let that happen again, especially to our staple food. Thanks to the hearings in aid of legislation led by Cong. Enverga, we already know exactly how a cartel works. We’re going to stop them, we’re not going to let them score again,” the Speaker said.
Last August 24, the joint contingent from the House and BOC swooped down at warehouses in Bulacan and found over 200,000 sacks of rice that were seemingly being purposely held.
“I thank Commissioner Bienvenido “Bien” Y. Rubio for his initiative of peering into these suspicious warehouses at a time when Filipinos are grappling with rising rice prices. This will make hoarders think twice about their schemes,” Romualdez said.
“We need to carry out more of these inspections, and I trust the commissioner to do so in order to keep rice traders obedient to the law,” Romualdez said.
During the inspection, the BOC, armed with letters of authority, barred the owners of the Great Harvest Rice Mill Warehouse, the San Pedro Warehouse, and the FS Rice Mill from retrieving the goods pending submission of the required documents on their rice importation.
Romualdez stressed that the discovered supply of rice should be released to the local market in order to mitigate the rising prices of the staple grain.
For the past few weeks, the price of rice has been steadily rising, with retailers selling it at P50 to P62 per kilogram in Metro Manila. If left unaddressed, it is projected to reach P60 to P65 in the coming days.
Rice warehouse inspections a sustained drive–Speaker
Source: News Paper Radio
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