P500 million worth of rice found in 3 Bulacan warehouses

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) closed and sealed three warehouses in Bulacan reportedly containing P500 million worth of suspected smuggled rice products.

Together with some lawmakers, Customs personnel raided the storage facilities where at least 200,000 sacks of rice were found, according to Jun Veneracion’s report on “24 Oras” Wednesday.

“We have to check also kung ang importations ba nila ay tama may nagho-hoard ba, meron bang nag-smuggle,” said BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio.

(We have to check if they are hoarding or smuggling rice.)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who was present during the inspection, some of the bags of rice have been stored in the facility for about three months, similar to hoarding. He said selling the supplies in the market will help lower rising food prices.

The smuggled produce was also allegedly being repacked to make it look like local produce.

“Kasi pag ini-embudo mo, pag hino-hoard, tumataas. Greed yan e. 'Di ba, gusto mo kumita, maghantay ka ng kaunti, mas malaki kita. Ibaba mo na,” Romualdez said.

(If you hoard, the price rises. That’s greed.)

The BOC gave the owners of the facility 15 days to submit the required documents to prove they had undergone the correct process of storing the rice products.

“Kumpleto naman kami sa papel. Wala po kaming tinatago. Lahat po yan may permit,” warehouse manager Rose Marie de Jesus said.

(We have complete documents and we are not hiding anything. We have the permits.)

The BOC is eyeing to inspect 20 other warehouses in Metro Manila and Central Luzon reported to contain thousands more bags of alleged smuggled rice. — Sundy Locus/BM, GMA Integrated News