Over 9M kilos of rice stocked in Manila ports

Over nine million kilograms of rice stored in 356 container vans are stocked in the ports of Manila, according to GMA Integrated News' Maki Pulido's report.

The Bureau of Customs and the Department of Agriculture both said that the rice importers are possibly waiting for the prices of rice to increase before they release the stocks.

According to the report, importers are given 30 days to release their stocks upon the receipt of a clearance from the BOC before it can be declared abandoned.

The BOC said that rice importers may be taking advantage of this rule.

"That's what we're looking into also...kasi (because) we don't want a situation where they will also use the 30-day period to unduly keep their inventories at the hope of actually creating a false supply issue and therefore, spiking up the prices," Customs Assistant Commissioner Jet Maronilla said.
 

The Agriculture Department has yet to determine the actions to be taken against the rice importers, but DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said that the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) explained to them that the rice importers might have been waiting for a good price before they release their stocks from the ports.

"Sabi rin nila, posibleng naghihintay sila ng mas magandang presyo bago ilabas dahil mas mura ang binabayaran ng consignee kung nandoon sa pantalan kaysa nasa private warehouses," De Mesa said.

(They also said that they might be waiting for a better price before releasing it because the consignee pays less when it's at the port than when it's in private warehouses.)  

According to DA data as of September 24, the 356 container vans have already decreased from 888 container vans.

The PPA will release the data on the number of container vans that are already up for confiscation because it already passed the 30-day period, but the initial data from DA showed that two container vans or about 54,000 kilograms of rice could already be considered as "abandoned."

Amid this, consumer group Bantay Bigas called for an investigation into possible price manipulation and hoarding of rice.

"The mere fact na kumpleto na yung paper, ready nang mailabas, bakit ayaw nilang ilabas? Napakataas ng presyo ng bigas sa merkado," Bantay Bigas' Cathy Estavillo said. 

(The mere fact that the paper is complete and ready for release, why not release it yet? The price of rice in the market is extremely high.)

—Hana Bordey/ VAL, GMA Integrated News