NBI stumbles on tons of rice in Misor port

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent .

THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) discovered tons of imported rice being held by customs officials at the Mindanao International Container Port in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, without a clear reason.

Lawyer Alex Cabornay, NBI head agent for Region 10, said the discovery puzzled NBI agents in that there was a directive from Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña that customs officials are supposed to prioritize the release of rice shipments if the papers are in order.

Yet a substantial number of container vans, containing thousands of sacks of imported rice, were unnecessary held at the port of Tagoloan, said Cabornay.

He said Lapeña’s order, dated Aug. 23, 2018, was for all district collectors and sub-port collectors to immediately release rice shipments under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme and with import permits from the National Food Authority (NFA).

The order is meant to ensure the steady supply of rice in the market, he said.

On Friday, the NBI found at least 43 container vans of mostly Vietnam rice being held at the Tagoloan port. Authorities said many of these have been held there since August.

Cabornay said the NBI has questioned customs officials here because the rice shipments were covered with supporting documents, importation duties and taxes were already paid, and other legal obligations were complied with.

Despite the compliance, he said, the release of the imported rice to the market was unnecessarily delayed.

“Rice traders and rice importers are made to unnecessarily pay the storage fee for every container each day,” he said.

Cabornay said the NBI would start an investigation and make those responsible answerable.

“They had it coming,” Cabornay said. “The NBI and the NFA cannot understand why there were lapses in the implementation of a self-explanatory directive given by the highest customs official.”