SEN. GUINGONA: RICE IMPORTATION CONTROLLED
BY UNSCRUPULOUS ENTITIES
GOVT SHOULD DILIGENTLY CHECK ON QUALIFICATION OF RICE BIDDERS

Senator Teofisto "TG" Guingona III on Wednesday called the attention of the National Food Authority (NFA) to diligently check the background of its rice bidders and put an end on the seeming control of the few unscrupulous entities in the rice importation process.

"Hindi dapat natin hinahayaang makontrol ng mga iilang tao o grupo ang pag-angkat ng bigas sa bansa. Ang bigas ang pangunahing pagkain ng ating mga kababayan kaya't nararapat na ating bantayan kung sinu-sino ang tila nagpapaikot sa ating mga otoridad sa importasyon ng bigas," Sen. Guingona said.

The good governance advocate added that NFA officials may have been blindsided by these unscrupulous individuals who want to gain control in country's rice importation program by using the name of cooperatives or submitting false documentations.

In the rice smuggling hearing in the Senate on Wednesday, Sen. Guingona unmasked the irregularities in the bidding process of NFA. Based on the Senator's research, it appears that some winning bidders are operating together and could be mere "dummies" of unscrupulous individuals or groups that want to control or monopolize the importation of rice in the country.

Sen. Guingona highlighted in his presentation before the rice smuggling hearing that the financial conditions of those bidders who won importation license from NFA are incapable of paying the service fees ranging from P50 to P69 million pesos.

"Imagine a bidder with only about P50 thousand published capital can pay service fee amounting to P50 to P69 million pesos. And we are not talking of just one bidder here but numerous. This is quite anomalous. Paano nakayanan ni bidder magbayad ng ganoong kalaking halaga kung ang total assets niya ay wala pa ngang isang milyong piso?" Sen. Guingona said.

He added that many of these winning bidders got their National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) certificates and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) registration on the same dates despite the invitation to bid is two months away.

"Mayroon pang dalawang bagay na nakakapagtaka dito. Una, marami dito sa mga nanalong bidders have the same legal representative even if they are from different places in the country. Second, majority of the winning bidders have the same supplier that issued certifications to supply them with 10,000 metric tons of rice just a day after the invitation to bid was published. Just by looking at this facts, makikita mo na may gumagalaw talagang unscrupulous entities dito," he added.

He urged the NFA to seriously look into this matter because the Filipino consumers and the rice business are affected by these questionable dealings.

Sen. Guingona added that while he wanted to help NFA in verifying the credentials of the winning bidders, it appears that the agency has lapses in status and qualifications check of its bidders.

There were several winning bidders in the NFA rice importation program that indicated false qualifications in their registration. Some of them even indicated addresses belonging to a different business institution or the place is a private household.

"Kung sino man ang involve dito, kailangang siyasatin ito ng NFA kaagad sapagkat kapakanan ng mga mamamayan ang nakataya dito. Ito ay umpisa pa lamang ng aking pagsisiyasat at maaring makapagbigay pa rin ako ng impormasyon sa mga susunod na pagdinig."

"Kailangang mahinto na ang ganitong mga gawain. Kailangang pagbuhusan ng atensiyon ito ng liderato ng NFA dahil sila ang mananagot sa taumbayan kapag hinayaan nilang kontrolin ng iilan ang pangunahing pagkain ng ating mga kababayan," Sen. Guingona said.

Sen. Guingona added that government officials who are willingly or unwittingly provide assistance to those people who control the rice importation process in the Philippines can be slapped with a graft case and should be removed from office.

"Sa ating mga opisyal, huwag na nating hayaang umabot pa sa pagsampa ng graft cases . Itama natin ang mga proseso at parusahan ang mga tila nagkokontrol sa programa ng ating pamahalaan. Unahin natin ang kapakanan ng mga mahihirap nating kababayan. Tama na, itigil na ang ganitong baluktot na pamamaraan," he noted.