Rice imports not funding GMA campaign - DA

Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor denied yesterday allegations by a lawmaker that the government is importing 890,000 metric tons of rice to raise funds for the 2004 election campaign of President Arroyo.

Reacting to the allegations of Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra, Montemayor said rice to be imported from Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam and India would be used as buffer when the El Niño dry spell hits the country at year’s end.

"I deny (Mitra’s allegations) vehemently," he said. "I challenge him to show proof and we will not hesitate to go after them (rice importers)."

Meanwhile Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar said the Senate committee on agriculture, which he heads, will not stop in its campaign against rice smugglers until they are all charged in court.

"Large-scale smuggling of rice is not possible without the connivance of ranking officials from various government agencies," he said. "Such activities are slowly killing our rice farmers and are depriving the government of hundreds of millions, even billions, of pesos in revenues."

Montemayor said the legally imported rice is expected to arrive in the country by the first week of August.

In Butuan City, the local office of the National Food Authority said some 500 smuggled rice seized from the ship M/V Rodeo Friday must be brought to the NFA warehouse and not somewhere else.

NFA general manager Antonio Yumang said it was confusing that police took the rice to a place outside the NFA warehouse and that they are giving varying figures on how many sacks of rice were confiscated.

"What is really the truth?" he said in the local language. "Why is there less sacks of rice now (in police hands)? Why has the M/V Rodeo disappeared right under the nose of police? Is this happening always? Has the government done anything to stop the anomaly?"

Mitra the other day expressed alarm over the increasing volume of rice being imported into the country during the past six months.

Additional rice imports could be a scheme to "fatten the bank accounts" of corrupt officials and unscrupulous rice importers or to raise funds for the 2004 presidential campaign, he added.

Mitra said corrupt officials could earn as much as P1 billion for P10 million bags of imported rice at a commission of P100 per bag.

Unscrupulous politicians could easily raise funds from the smuggling of rice, sardines and other basic commodities which are in big demand in the market, he added.

Mitra said the additional importation of 500,000 metric tons of rice is not justified even after the farm output has dropped in the second quarter of the year.

It is "perplexing" that the government is importing a big volume of rice despite the 4.4 percent growth in agricultural output during the first quarter, Mitra added.

Villar, for his part, said there are suspicions that rice importation permits issued to selected firms are being recycled to allow other companies to import rice in excess of their allocations.

The committee on agriculture has initiated a series of investigations on the smuggling of rice, onions, garlic and other agricultural products.

On the other hand, Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta said a sweeping revamp of the Bureau of Customs should be made to stop the rampant smuggling of rice.

"Besides adopting tough measures against smugglers, the Palace should likewise undertake a widescale revamp at the customs bureau, which has not only failed to curb smuggling, but also fared dismally in meeting revenue targets," she said.

Oreta said foreign business groups, particularly the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have expressed concern over Malacañang’s supposed lack of focus in stopping rice smuggling.

It has allowed illegal, cheap rice imports to flood the country’s retail markets and threaten local industries, Oreta added.– Katherine Adraneda, Efren Danao, Ben Serrano