Probe on rice smuggling sought

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines - United Nationalist Alliance senatorial candidate and Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay yesterday sought a congressional investigation into the allegedly P1.2 billion rice smuggling in Cebu.

Magsaysay also urged Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon to act immediately on the matter.

She said Biazon should investigate the matter to find out who was responsible for the large scale smuggling attempt.

“What is alarming is that there are reports that somebody from the Office of the Commissioner authorized the shipment and that Cebu port officials were simply going to let it slide had it not been for the alert issued by intelligence personnel of the bureau,” Magsaysay said.

“The commissioner should not just investigate the matter, but ensure that officials in question are not able to clean up after themselves if they are guilty of any misdeed,” she added.