Charges filed vs 3 rice hoarders
Another warehouse raided
hree suspected rice hoarders are facin criminal char es efore the alolos rosecu tor’s Office after tons of rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) were found in 12 warehouses in Bulacan without the necessary permits and licenses.
n untinlupa, police sei ed esterda mornin , sac s of F rice and , sac s of commercial rice in two warehouses and in Son ompound, m , est Service oad in upan
irector en amin a alon , riminal nvesti ation and etection roup chief, said a commercial rice millin machine elieved to e used for polishin rice of inferior ualit and old stoc was found at the scene
a alon said most of the rice appeared unfit for human consumption he F sac s were used on the reverse side to hide the la el
he raid revealed , sac s of rice hidden in the warehouses, , of which are suspected to e hoarded and waitin to e repac ed and mi ed with other t pes of rice for resellin
residential ommunications Operations Office Secretar erminio oloma r said the three warehouse owners in ulacan were char ed with violatin residential ecree for rice diversion and epu lic ct or the rice ct for price
manipulation.
Police sources identified the three suspected rice hoarders as Willy Go, Romeo Mariano Jr., and JY & Son.
Their warehouses have been padlocked pending investigation.
NFA administrator Arthur Juan said 80,076 sacks of rice have been seized totaling about 4,000 metric tons.
Presidential adviser on food security Francis Pangilinan has directed Juan to make the NFA Bulacan provincial manager or the NFA in Central Luzon to explain how the private businessmen acquired tons of rice intended for cooperatives.
During the police raid in Muntinlupa, Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said he expects police to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to break up the operations of criminal gangs responsible for hoarding and manipulating the prices of basic commodities.
He directed police to crack down on price manipulators after President Aquino ordered an investigation into the artificial increase in the prices of rice, garlic, ginger, pork, chicken, and milk.
Magalong re - ported to Roxas that police had helped the NFA in inspecting the 12 warehouses suspected to be involved in rice hoarding.
Roxas ordered police to trace the people involved in the cartel of prime commodities behind the skyrocketing prices.
Under the Price Act, police and other law enforcement agencies may be deputized to monitor and inspect warehouses for possible hoarding and diversion of NFA rice, he added.
Passed in 1992, the Price Act forbids three methods of price manipulation of basic commodities, including rice: hoarding, profiteering, and creating a cartel to cause a spike in prices.
Rice prices drop
in Camanava
In the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela, prices of commercial rice went down by as much as P3 per kilo yesterday.
The Camanava chapter of retailers association Grecon Grains Confederation (GGC) has agreed to a request of NFA administrator Juan for a rollback.
Retailers started selling their least expensive well-milled commercial rice yesterday morning at P37 per kilo from the previous P40.
Fortunato Miranda, GGC-Camanava chapter president, assured the public that the NFA rice allocations will not fall into the hands of hoarders.
Earlier in the week, retailers in Camanava chopped P1 per kilo from their prices.
However, some retailers in Caloocan are apprehensive about the price adjustment since they have bought their rice at a higher price.
In Central Luzon, NFA regional director Amadeo de Guzman has ordered provincial managers to ensure the visibility and availability of NFA rice in the market at all times.
“This order means adding non- traditional channels to make the staple as visible and available as can be to end consumers,” he said.
His order was pursuant to the directive of Juan, he added.
De Guzman said NFA is implementing a one-strike policy to unscrupulous traders selling overpriced NFA rice.
“Central Luzon rice inventory as of June was 6,805,300 bags, which would last for 96 days based on rice consumption requirement of 71,140 bags per day,” he said.
NFA rice is presently sold at P27 per kilo for regular milled rice (25 percent broken) and P32 per kilo for well-milled rice (15 percent broken).
– With Rey Galupo, Ding Cervantes