Senate orders arrest of rice importer

Senator Francis Pangilinan: Puzzled

MANILA, Philippines—The Senate committee on agriculture has ordered the arrest of a  rice importer after he failed to show up on Wednesday for the panel’s inquiry into the alleged smuggling of P450 million worth of rice  from  India through the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

This developed as traders granted import permits by the National Food Authority came under scrutiny after testimony and documents submitted to the committee indicated that licensed importers were allowing themselves to be used to provide legal cover to the smuggling of rice.

“What puzzles me is the 420,000 bags [of rice from India] are here and it appears that these were being offered for sale to the local market,” said Senator Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture.

“How come regulated goods enter the country without a permit and when they are already here, certain steps are taken to produce the import permits that would make legal the initially illegal or questionable entry?” Pangilinan told reporters after the Senate inquiry.

Pangilinan’s committee earlier issued an order for the arrest of Magdangal Diego Bayani III of St. Andrews Field Grains and Cereal Trading located at Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City.

Alfredo Cruz of GPI San Miguel Multi-Purpose Cooperative in San Miguel, Bulacan, was initially also the object of an arrest order but his lawyer told the committee that he was suffering from hypertension and had to be confined in a hospital.

“We want to know the testimony of these two, who have import licenses and who are willing to buy the rice from Amirah,” Pangilinan said.

Amirah C Foods, based in New Delhi, is the shipper of the allegedly smuggled rice that has since been seized by the Bureau of Customs.

Protik Guha, chief executive officer of Amirah, already testified before the Senate panel that the rice shipment was merely for transshipment as it had been refused entry in Jakarta.

Testimony and documents secured by the Pangilinan panel, however, indicated that there was also intent to distribute the rice in the local market.