A lawmaker has called on Customs Chief Isidro Lapeña to donate the seized smuggled rice worth P125 million to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the agency’s relief operations.
The call of Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, was made days after the Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized 2,500 tons of smuggled rice from Thailand that was consigned to Sta. Rosa Farms.
“Nananawagan po tayo kay BOC Commissioner Sid Lapeña na i-donate ang nakumpiskang smuggled rice sa Department of Social Welfare and Development para maipamahagi sa mga nasalanta ng baha,” Cua said in a statement on Friday.
“Malaki po ang maitutulong nito sa libo-libo nating mga kababayang apektado ng matinding pag-ulan dulot ng bagyong Karding,” he added.
The lawmaker cited a recent situational report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council which stated that 662 areas in the country, as well as 342,699 families from 954 barangays in Regions 1, 3, 4-A, the Cordillera Administrative Region, and the National Capital Region were affected by flooding in the past weeks brought about by the storm-enhanced southwest monsoon or “habagat.”
In a press conference, Lapeña said the BOC will ask the National Food Authority to examine the rice shipment and determine if it is “fit for human consumption” before proceeding to auction it. /muf