SC orders on rice cargoes ‘victory for farmers’

DAVAO CITY—The agriculture industry group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) lauded the decision of the Supreme Court to stop the release of close to 190,000 bags of rice that are being held at the Manila port for lack of import permits.

“This is a victory for the local rice industry and a relief to the millions of rice farmers whose livelihoods have been threatened by the rampant smuggling of rice,” Rosendo So, chair of Sinag, said in a statement after the high court stopped a Manila Regional Trial Court from implementing an order allowing the release of the rice shipment being held by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The high court decision came after a petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, representing the Department of Agriculture and the BOC, questioning the decision of Manila RTC Judge Cicero Jurado Jr. ordering the (BOC) to release the shipment.

“This will serve as a stern warning to those few magistrates who think that they can get away easily with rulings that benefit smugglers,” Sinag said in a statement.

The group earlier filed five administrative cases against four RTC judges, who earlier ordered the release of the shipment despite their lack of import permits.

So said his group filed the cases against the four judges at the high court for gross misconduct and “knowingly rendering an unjust judgment.”

Aside from Judge Jurado Jr., the other judges sued by Sinag are Batangas RTC Judge Eutiquio L. Quitain, Manila RTC Judge Maria Paz Reyes-Yson and Davao RTC Judge Emmanuel Carpio.

So said his group is looking forward to the speedy resolution of the five cases, adding that in several decisions, the high court either suspended the judges and held them administratively liable.

Sinag said the Quantitative Restriction (QR) on rice granted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) had nothing to do with the country’s implementation of laws on import permits.

“With or without the QRs, the authority of the National Food Authority (NFA) to issue import permits remains valid unless we enact new legislation or adjust our administrative processes,” So said.

“It is not the WTO, or the expiration of the QR, that will automatically remove the authority of the NFA,” he said.

“What binds our commitments to the WTO are the enactment of subsequent local legislation and not the interpretation of proliberalization economists,” he said. Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao