NFA chief faces extort rap

POSING WITH PRESIDENTS Rice trader Jojo Soliman filed a complaint in the NBI accusing new National Food Authority Administrator Arthur Juan and his aide Patricia Galang of extorting P15 million from him. Note the photos of presidents, from Marcos to Arroyo, on a wall in his office in Sta. Cruz, Manila. NANCY C. CARVAJAL

MANILA, Philippines–The transfer of money was reminiscent of a cloak-and-dagger operation.

A total of P10 million was deposited in two separate bank accounts.

Then wads of cash equivalent to P5 million were placed inside a paper bag with a Louis Vuitton bag worth P76,000 and left under a table in a popular barbecue and noodles restaurant in Makati City.

Rice trader Jomerito “Jojo” Soliman, whose warehouse in Bulacan province was raided last month, said Thursday the money totaling P15 million was extorted from him by National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Arthur Juan and his assistant, lawyer Patricia Galang.

Juan was appointed barely two months ago to head the NFA.

In a sworn statement submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation, Soliman said Juan told him that P5 million each was meant for Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Presidential Assistant on Food Security Kiko Pangilinan, and another P5 million for the NFA chief himself.

The rice trader alleged that the money was in exchange for the dropping of charges against him and the reopening of his padlocked warehouse.

Roxas and Pangilinan led the police in the raid on Juan’s warehouse in July.

Malacañang announced the appointment of Juan as NFA head in June shortly after Pangilinan was named presidential assistant for food security and agriculture modernization.

Juan was president of San Miguel Foods from 2005 to 2009 and head of Monterey Foods Corp. from 1999 to 2003.

The Inquirer called and texted Juan and Galang for their side, but they could not be contacted in their listed telephone numbers. Roxas has not replied to text or calls from the Inquirer.

Fabrications vs Panglinan, Roxas

Asked for his side, Pangilinan on Thursday night texted his reply: “Soliman’s license to trade has been suspended. The NFA has filed cases against him for violations of the Price Act for mixing animal feeds with imported Thai rice and selling the same as ‘sinandomeng’ rice to our consumers.

“This is an act of a desperate individual who has been so used to violating our laws and getting away with it and now that he has been unable to wiggle his way out of his unscrupulous activities, he files fabricated cases,” Pangilinan said.

“It is downright ridiculous and clearly an act of desperation. Instead of answering charges of profiteering and his illegal and unconscionable acts of mixing animal feeds with rice and selling it as local rice to unsuspecting consumers like you and me, he resorts to falsehoods.

“With the evidence we have obtained in his Malolos warehouse, we will throw the book at profiteers like Mr. Soliman,” he said.

Pangilinan also defended Juan, saying that the search committee who endorsed Art Juan were former Secretary Cielo Habito and Professor Rolando Dy, a dean at the University of Asia and the Pacific.

“They all vouched for Art Juan’s integrity and condemned the filing of what was clearly fabricated charges,” he added.

NBI probe

NBI Director Virgilio Mendez said the bureau was investigating Juan and his assistant but declined to give details of the complaint.

“We have yet to determine the truthfulness of the allegations before we could file appropriate charges,” Mendez said.

Juan and Soliman appeared separately before investigators at NBI headquarters on Thursday in connection with the extortion complaint filed by the rice trader.

Louis Vuitton sling bag

In the sworn statement, Soliman, president of Purefeeds Corp., said he was engaged in rice milling, rice wholesale and retail, and repacking and importation of rice, other agricultural products and feeds.

“The money was deposited in two banks and P5 million cash was placed in a Louis Vuitton inside a paper bag and an LV sling bag worth P76,000 left under a table in a restaurant in Makati City allegedly based on their [Juan] instructions,” Soliman, 42, told the Inquirer in an interview in his office in Sta. Cruz, Manila, Thursday afternoon.

Soliman said he filed the complaint in the NBI against the NFA officials after they failed to deliver on their promise to open his warehouse and allow him to operate his business in “peace, without threats of arrest and closure.”

In the same interview, Soliman denied that he was a rice smuggler, saying that he has been a legitimate rice trader for 28 years, a business he inherited from his father.

He said he was also the vice chair for Luzon Alliance of Grains Industry Retailers. “I am a legitimate businessman and paid taxes to the government.”

Soliman said that from January to June this year, his company paid P140 million in taxes for gross sales of P1.2 billion.

He said the NFA charged him with transporting without permit and for possessing 500 old empty sacks of NFA rice and broken Thai rice after police raided his warehouse in Tikay, Malolos City, in Bulacan on July 5, 6 and 7.

Soliman, in his sworn statement submitted to the NBI, said that Juan and Galang had asked for P15 million in exchange for the dropping of suits against him and for the continued operation of his rice trading business.

In his narration to the NBI investigators on July 5, he said his rice warehouse was raided by police, led by Roxas and Pangilinan, and was padlocked for violating NFA regulations.

P15M to drop charges

On July 8, three days after the raid, Soliman said he received a text message from the NFA administrator, asking him to call him up.

After the initial conversation, Soliman later talked to Juan several times. They agreed that he would give him P15 million in exchange for dropping the suits against him.

Soliman added that Juan had claimed that the money was for Roxas and Pangilinan. “I agreed to give him the money out of fear and I wanted to continue with my business,” the rice trader said.

Instructions

The instructions on how to send the money, he said, were texted to him by Juan using the number he had in his phone book.

An NBI source, who knows the NFA administrator, said that the cell phone number supposedly used by Juan in texting Soliman was the same number Juan gave when he visited the NBI headquarters after he was appointed NFA head by Pangilinan.

Based on the two deposit slips Soliman showed to the Inquirer, he claimed he personally deposited a total of P10 million on July 8 in two different commercial banks purportedly on Juan’s instructions.

He said that Juan instructed him to deposit P5 million to Account No. 178017616 under the name Ranier Lim but the account turned out to be closed. Instead, he was asked to deposit it to another account,

No. 001368012770, under the name of Jefferson Lee in Banco de Oro in Caloocan City.

The other P5 million was deposited under the name Rommel M. Lim at Bank of Philippine Islands under Account No. 004321-0039-29.

Amber restaurant

Another P5 million, Soliman said, was placed in a brown Louis Vuitton sling bag left under a table at Amber restaurant in Makati City.

“I put down on the floor two LV paper bags that contained money and the LV sling bag. Then I left because I was told that someone was watching over the bag and that I should not look back,” Soliman said in his statement.

“Attorney Peegee [Patricia Galang] requested that the money be placed in an LV bag worth P76,000,” Soliman told the Inquirer.

In his complaint, Soliman also said that Juan had also instructed him to stop talking to the media and that the operation of his business would resume.

“I was told not to talk to the media because that angered Secretary Roxas and was warned that I would be arrested if I continue to answer queries from the media.”

“He asked me if I wanted to have my problem with Sec Roxas and Sec Kiko Pangilinan fixed. I asked him how it could be fixed and he told me: ‘What fixing do you want?’ I replied, ‘It would not be proper if I gave them money.’ His answer: ‘Pwede, pwede kailangan nila ‘yun (It’s OK as they need the money).’ I asked about the amount. His answer: ‘P5 million each,’” Soliman said in his statement.

Soliman added that after they had agreed on the amount supposedly for Pangilinan and Roxas, Juan said that he wanted P5 million for his role in fixing the trader’s problem.

As chief of the NFA, Juan concurrently sits as member of the NFA Council, the same body that elected him administrator.

“[Juan’s] experience and expertise having run a national food conglomerate will be a great help in ensuring that NFA is managed efficiently and effectively,” Pangilinan said when he announced the appointment of Juan.

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