BOC dumps 1,000 sacks of rotten rice seized in 2013

Bureau of Customs (BOC) agents on Monday disposed of almost 1,000 sacks of rotten rice in an open dump site in Tacloban City.

According to the bureau, the rice was seized at the Tacloban Seaport on July 13, 2013.

"It was intercepted by our Customs police due to the absence of import permit and other related documents," BOC deputy collector Deogenes Senita said in a 24 Oras report by Tina Panganiban-Perez.

When Supertyphoon Yolanda hit in November, devastating the city of Tacloban, the place where the rice was stored was hit by flood waters and the rice was ruined.

The BOC admitted that it took a long time to process the seized sacks of rice. It also said it never discovered their owner even after a series of hearings.

The agency also tried to look for possible bidders but to no avail.

"We can dispose that if it is perishable items like this one pero there was no regulations yet before," Senita said. — Anna Felicia Bajo/BM, GMA News