Jail the hoarders

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation raided rice warehouses as part of a government crackdown on hoarding. One warehouse was caught repacking 20,000 50-kilo bags of rice from subsidized supplies of the state-owned National Food Authority (NFA). That was more than six years ago, or on March 28, 2008, to be exact.

Last September, the Aquino administration issued a warning to rice traders involved in hoarding and directed the NFA to look into business establishments that were illegally stockpiling rice.

Today, despite the “daang matuwid” campaign against corruption, the problem continues to fester. Sly traders and businessmen hoard rice to tighten the supply by creating an artificial shortage. This, in turn, leads to higher prices, or bigger profits for the hoarders. This was the same story for garlic; the prices of the precious spice skyrocketed to about P300 a kilo as a result of hoarding. But rice is a totally bigger story. It is the daily staple for a country where more than 20 percent of the population live below the poverty line.

Last week, government raids on private warehouses yielded rice from the NFA that was being repacked to be sold as premium commercial rice or, worse, being mixed with substandard varieties that were supposed to be used only as animal feed.

Suspected hoarded rice was found in several warehouses in Bulacan in the north and Muntinlupa City in the south. Francis Pangilinan, President Aquino’s adviser on food security and agricultural modernization, said his men had confirmed various violations committed by the owners of the warehouses, who were not licensed to sell NFA rice in the first place. The warehouses yielded about 15,000 bags of NFA rice and 4,500 bags of commercial rice. Some sacks were turned inside out to hide the NFA markings on them. A number of empty NFA and commercial rice sacks were piled in two warehouses. A milling machine, believed to be used for polishing inferior-quality and old rice stocks, was found.

According to Pangilinan, authorities also found old rice stocks mixed with rodent droppings and cockroach eggs in a part of a warehouse where the supposed mixing of rice was being done. The illegal repacking and hoarding of NFA rice are a clear violation of Republic Act No. 7581 or the Price Act Law of 1992, he said. The penalties are five to 15 years’ imprisonment, cancellation of a business’ accreditation, and its eventual blacklisting.

The Department of Justice has recommended the filing of criminal charges of “profiteering” against 17 individuals involved in the alleged illegal repacking and sale of government-subsidized rice in Bulacan.

The results of the raids indicated the very strong likelihood that certain NFA employees are conniving with private individuals or companies engaged in hoarding rice. This is not the first time that NFA personnel are suspected of aiding private businessmen in illegal rice-trading activities. The appointment of a new head of the NFA gives the government a chance to finally rid the agency of scalawags and prosecute those involved in hoarding or aiding hoarders. Pangilinan has directed NFA chief Arthur Juan to make the provincial manager of the NFA office in Bulacan explain how private businessmen acquired tons of rice intended for cooperatives.

Congress also needs to pass a bill, pending since 2010, that seeks stiffer penalties and jail terms for hoarders and profiteers. Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez proposed under House Bill No. 2733 that rice hoarding and profiteering be declared a crime of economic sabotage to be penalized by life imprisonment.

While at it, the government must, in the long term, focus on improving rice production. And not just improving the production side, but also the logistics component from harvesting the palay to milling to packing to the eventual distribution of rice across the country. As it is now, it remains to be seen if having two officials in charge of agriculture will be better for the country.

It’s time for the government to show these illegal rice traders and hoarders—and corrupt NFA personnel—that it means serious business. It’s time to prosecute and jail the hoarders and profiteers. They have caused so much misery to ordinary Filipinos, many of whom have to labor hard just to earn enough money to put food on their table.