1,359 tons of smuggled rice seized from Chinese

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Naval forces seized a foreign cargo vessel loaded with 1,359 metric tons of smuggled rice and apprehended its 15 Chinese and Bangladeshi crew off Olutanga Island in Zamboanga Sibugay, officials said yesterday.

Rear Admiral Rene Medina, commander of Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) said operatives of Naval Task Force 61 also apprehended 51 Filipino laborers aboard the cargo ship M/V Diamond 8, of Mongolian registry.

Medina said the crew of 11 Bangladesh and four Chinese led by its skipper Lin Yang Yin were arrested in their failed attempt to smuggle 27,180 sacks of Vietnam rice weighing 1,359 metric tons.

Officials said the smuggled rice has an estimated market value of P67,970,000.

Authorities found that MV Diamond 8 had already unloaded some 8,000 sacks of smuggled rice onto two vessels identified as M/V Yssa Maine and M/V Yousra. Both managed to sail away before the arrival of the Navy ship.

Medina said they received information from the Littoral Monitoring System asking rescue and assistance for an unidentified vessel harassed by terrorist groups about 7 p.m Saturday.

The BRP General Mariano Alvarez intercepted the foreign vessel some 15 nautical miles off Olutanga Island and discovered it was smuggling tons of rice.

As this developed, the National Food Authority (NFA) and representatives of the local rice industry are meeting anew today in Malacañang to discuss the country’s rice situation and hopefully, get a final decision on the status of the grain agency.

A source from the NFA said over the weekend that the Office of the President sent invitations to NFA, the NFA Council, Department of Agriculture, rice traders and farmers for another meeting at 4 p.m. Monday.

“There is a meeting among the NFA management, the Council and other stakeholders with President Duterte or some presidential staff regarding rice situation and rice importation,” the source said.

It was April 5 when President Duterte met with the industry that eventually caused confusion as to where NFA will be placed under, which is yet to be resolved until now.

The expected meeting today was also confirmed by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who however was tight-lipped on the exact agenda.

“I cannot divulge the agenda. I don’t want to preempt the President in his pronouncements,” Piñol said in a text message.

Grains Retailers Confederation of the Philippines Inc. (GRECON) national president Jaime Magbanua also said he has no idea as to the agenda.

He claimed he had just received a notice asking him to go to Malacañang.

The NFA is also hopeful that Malacañang will clarify and finalize its plan on the reconstitution of the NFA Council and whether the agency will be returned to the Department of Agriculture or retained under the Office of the President.

The NFA said it also hopes to have the terms of reference (TOR) on the 250,000 metric tons of emergency importation finalized and approved during the meeting.

“The TOR is not yet finalized and approved due to some legal issues being cleared with the OP to ensure all actions are legally tenable due to the announced reconstitution of the NFA Council,” the source said.

The emergency import was ordered by President Duterte two weeks ago following the depletion of NFA stocks in the country.

The NFA is mandated to maintain a food security reserve good for at least 15 days at any given time but has failed since late last year.

The emergency import is also on top of the earlier approved 250,000 MT of rice via government-to-private scheme which the terms of reference is also yet to be finalized and approved.

Meanwhile, a group of agricultural workers criticized the World Bank for pushing the Philippines to import rice instead of advocating self-sufficiency.

“The World Bank is advocating rice importation, as against prospects of the country being rice self-sufficient. This includes removing import barriers to agricultural goods including rice and limiting the NFA to just concentrating on building up stocks to buffer emergencies,” Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) secretary-general John Milton Lozande said.

UMA said the WB policy paper “Philippines Mindanao Jobs Report: A Strategy for Mindanao Regional Development” is also advocating removal of tariffs on other agricultural products such as corn, sugar, poultry, pork and flour. 

“The WB justifies this by stating that this would ensure greater food security for the poor,” Lozande said.

He said the WB is also pushing the “collection of irrigation service fees from farmers even if there is already a law on free irrigation for smallholders.”

“Essentially what the WB is proposing is the total demolition of the Philippine agricultural industry in favor of importation, while at the same time promoting the expansion of plantation crops mainly for export under the control of local and multinational private entities,” Lozande said.

He said the government now appears to be on track in abiding with the WB recommendations amid its rice importation program and reducing the NFA’s mandate while increasing private control on the rice industry and expanding 1.6 million hectares more of export-oriented plantations, especially in Mindanao. – With Louise Maureen Simeon, Ding Cervantes