Marcos tells BOC to boost efforts vs. hoarding, illegal rice importation

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, on Tuesday tasked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to strengthen their operations against hoarding and illegal importation of rice.

At a Palace press briefing, BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said more inspection of warehouses would be conducted on rice warehouses.

"Opo, as per the directive po ng ating Pangulo, we will be conducting more inspection of these warehouses and the inspection, and visitation will be coordinated with other agencies like the DA and the DTI," Rubio said.

The President's order to beef up operations came after three warehouses in Bulacan were shut down following the confiscation of P500 million worth of suspected smuggled rice products.

Authorities raided the storage facilities where at least 200,000 sacks of rice were found. Some of the bags of rice have allegedly been stored in the facility for about three months, similar to hoarding.

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.

Rubio could not say whether these warehouses were really into hoarding rice.

"The authority of the Bureau of Customs only extends on whether the imported rice that are stored inside those warehouses are paid with correct duties and taxes. I cannot make that conclusion," Rubio said.

Rubio also mentioned the existing reward system in the BOC for individuals who would provide information on those who are involved in hoarding.

"If I’m not mistaken it’s about 20% po of the value of the goods. Kapag iyong goods po na nakuha natin are goods of value na puwede nating i-auction (if the goods are already okay for auction) then they are entitled po..." Rubio said.

Meanwhile, 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.

In his second State of the Nation Address, Marcos gave a stern warning against smugglers and hoarders of agricultural products, saying that their days are already numbered.

Marcos said the smugglers and hoarders are the reason behind the rising prices of agricultural products, including fertilizers used by farmers. —VAL, GMA Integrated News