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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Romualdez calls rice hoarding a 'heinous crime', tells BOC to clamp down on hoarders

Romualdez calls rice hoarding a 'heinous crime', tells BOC to clamp down on hoarders

Published Aug 30, 2023 08:34 am

At A Glance

  • House Speaker Martin Romualdez believes that the hoarding of rice is a "heinous crime", and that the hoarders of the staple grain must be jailed. 

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House Speaker Martin Romualdez (center) gets interviewed inside a rice warehouse in Bulacan on Aug. 30 (Speaker’s office).

The hoarding of rice--the staple food of Filipinos--is a "heinous crime".

Thus, said House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Wednesday, Aug. 30, even as he gave a stern warning to local rice traders to immediately release the rice stocks they have in their warehouses.

Romualdez on Wednesday joined the Bureau of Customs (BOC) anew in another round of surprise inspection of rice warehouses in Bulacan. He told BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio during the course of the inspection to send rice smugglers and hoarders to jail.

“Yun lang ang warning natin sa lahat. Kung anong supply niyo ilabas niyo agad, wag niyo hintayin tumaas ang presyo sa world market. Nagbabantay kami at babalik kami dito. Kung kailangang i-raid ng Customs, ipapa-raid natin at kukunin natin at ibibigay natin sa mamamayan sa tamang presyo,” the House leader said.

(That is our warning to all. Release whatever supply you get, don't wait for prices to go up in the world market. We're watching you and we will come back here. If Customs need to launch a raid, then we will order a raid, seize the rice and give it to the people at the right price.)

“Rice hoarding is a heinous crime because it victimizes poor families who barely have enough money to put food on the table and pay for everything else that will uplift their quality of life. Hoarders profit from the misery of others, and for that they deserve to be in jail,” noted Romualdez.

“Kaya ang panawagan natin sa BOC, pag-ibayuhin pa ang pagsisikap na mahuli itong smugglers at hoarders na ito (That's why I ask BOC to step up its campaign to catch these smugglers and hoarders). I believe that by sending them to jail, we will send a clear message to other hoarders to stop what they are doing under pain and penalty of jail time,” he added.

Romualdez, upon the invitation of Rubio, led a team of lawmakers from the House of Representatives on a fact-finding mission last week to ascertain if rice hoarders were indeed behind the sudden spike in prices of rice in the market.

The initial BOC raid on three warehouses in Bulacan yielded about P500 million worth of imported rice. BOC operatives raided the Great Harvest Rice Mill Warehouse, the San Pedro Warehouse, and the FS Rice Mill Warehouse, which were found out to be storing 25,000, 167,000 and 10,000 sacks of imported rice, respectively.

Their respective owners have already been instructed to submit proof of tax and duty payments.

Related Tags

Bureau of Customs Rice hoarding Martin Romualdez
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