By Joel R. San Juan and Mary Grace Padin
A CONSUMER group is threatening to sue the National Food Authority (NFA) for allegedly using the Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) as a transshipment point for rice.
National Coalition of Filipino Consumers (NCFC) Spokesman Bency Ellorin said it is illegal for the NFA to use a private facility as a transit hub for rice.
“We are thinking of bringing the case to the Ombudsman. What the NFA is doing is economic sabotage,” Ellorin said.
NCFC insisted that only two ports, the ICTSI and South Harbor Center, are allowed by the government as transshipment hubs for rice shipments.
The group also called on Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, to look into reports of smuggling activities inside HCPTI.
“Senator Villar should ensure that our consumers are protected. For the longest time, we have been receiving information that HCPTI has been keeping tons of NFA rice without accreditation from the NFA,” Ellorin said.
“We are sure that it’s not only HCPTI, but there are other unscrupulous businessmen who blatantly violate Republic Act 7581, or the Price Act,” he added.
NCFC said it will urge Villar to put in place more stringent laws against hoarding and smuggling.
The NFA on Wednesday said allegations made by a consumer group that HCPTI is smuggling and hoarding rice has “no basis.”
The state-run food agency made the statement after it investigated the charges made by NCFC that HCPTI does not have the requisite permits to store NFA rice.
NFA Administrator Renan Dalisay said in a statement that HCPTI is only being used as a transshipment point of the rice imported from Vietnam—from the vessel to the truck—before these are delivered to NFA-designated warehouses.
Based on the food agency’s investigation, HCPTI was contracted by Golden Orient Ship Management and Agencies Inc., the cargo handler hired locally by Vina Foods Inc., which is the supplier of rice procured recently from Vietnam.
Dalisay said under the terms of reference of the government-to-government procurement scheme of the standby stocks in preparation of the El Niño, that the price per metric ton of the imported rice includes the cost, insurance and freight.
He said this means the winning supplier shall deliver the goods free of obligations and expenses on the part of the government up to the NFA’s designated warehouse.
According to Dalisay, Vina Foods Inc. contracted its own shipping vessels and cargo handlers. He said the NFA will only accept good-quality stocks in accordance with the specifications.