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The authorities' surprise inspections at warehouses allegedly holding rice stocks, like the one conducted last week in Bulacan, won't be a "one-hit wonder".

Thus, said House Speaker Martin Romualdez as he assured Filipino consumers that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) under Commissioner Bienvenido "Bien" Rubio would continue to carry out similar inspections.

"I thank Commissioner Rubio for his initiative of peering into these suspicious warehouses at a time when Filipinos are grappling with rising prices of rice. This will make hoarders think twice about their schemes," Romualdez said in a statement Sunday, Aug. 27.

"We need to carry out more of these inspections and I trust the commissioner to do so in oder to keep rice traders obedient to the law," Romualdez, the leader of the 311-strong House of Representatives.

Last Aug. 24, a joint contingent from the House of Representatives and BOC swooped down at warehouses in Bulacan and found over 200 sacks of rice that was seemingly being purposely held.

Romualdez stressed that the discovered supply of rice should be released to the local market in order to mitigate the rising prices of the staple grain.

Before the day was over, the BOC, armed with letters of authority, barred the owners of the Great Harvest Rice Mill Warehouse, the San Pedro Warehouse, and the FS Rice Mill from retreiving the goods pending submisison of the required documents on their rice importation.

Romualdez stressed that the discovered supply of rice should be released to the local market in order to mitigate the rising prices of the staple grain.

For the past few weeks, the price of rice has been steadily rising with retailers selling at P50 to P62 per kilogram in Metro Manila. If left unaddressed, it is projected to reach P60 to P65 in the coming days.