A Senate joint probe committee has recommended that the Ombudsman investigate former National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Lito Banayo and other NFA officials for possible graft in connection with the alleged use of NFA licensed rice importers as dummies by certain moneyed individuals who cornered state rice import quotas worth millions of pesos.
Customs authorities, led by Deputy Commissioner Danilo Lim, yesterday seized 5,000 bags of rice worth P9 million at the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, that Lim said were smuggled in from Vietnam.
Applicants, anyone? President Benigno Aquino III is looking for qualified officials to fill up vacancies in his administration less than a month before the start of the campaign period.
When Typhoon “Pablo” struck, the illegally cut logs on the mountains of Baganga and Cateel towns in Davao Oriental province crashed into the bald mountain slope, floated on the swollen river, bulldozed houses on the riverbanks and rammed into bridges.
Former National Food Authority Lito Banayo and slain veteran columnist Nixon Kua have been dragged into the Senate’s investigation into the alleged rice smuggling in the country.
The mystery deepens over the P141 million worth of rice believed to be smuggled from Vietnam and which found its way to this city’s port.
The controversy over the allegedly smuggled 94,000 bags of Vietnam rice worth P141 million continued to brew after three of the consignees of the National Food Authority denied they ordered the importation while another organization not on the list claimed ownership of part of the shipment.
A former chief of the National Food Authority (NFA) on Wednesday defended the government agency’s performance in the wake of Senate findings that groups with little financial resources had been used as dummies by a few unscrupulous persons to corner the rice import business.
National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Angelito Banayo on Tuesday confirmed he was resigning his post to run for congressman of his home district in Agusan Del Norte.
Lashing out at “dubious farmers’ cooperatives” that have allowed themselves to be used by rice smugglers, National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Angelito Banayo has suggested that the government regain its monopoly in rice importation.
LEGAZPI CITY—The National Food Authority (NFA) in Albay is now scrambling to secure all the needed documents that will authenticate the shipment of the P112-million Vietnamese rice impounded at the Legazpi port by the Bureau of Customs in Bicol. Legazpi customs collector lawyer Leovigildo Dayoza yesterday said he was compelled to issue a warrant [...]
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chair Roberto Garcia has replaced the two officials linked to the rice smuggling attempt here while the investigation into their possible collusion in facilitating the shipment of 420,000 bags of Indian rice in this port is ongoing.
The Philippines will buy rice from Thailand or Vietnam to make sure that the country will have enough buffer stock for 30 days by June 30, the National Food Authority (NFA) said.
