INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
A transparency group filed graft charges against officials of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) before the Office of the Ombudsman for the alleged lack of action to investigate and contain the reported smuggling of rice in a private port terminal at Manila.
In a four page complaint affidavit, Benjamin Peralta, secretary general of Filipino Alliance for Transparency and Empowerment (FATE), said that PPA officials led by General Manager Juan Santa Ana and Assistant General Manager for Operations Raul Santos violated section 3 of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and section 5(a) of Republic Act 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
The graft complaint is based on the reports earlier aired and published by the media about the rice smuggling activities allegedly happening at Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) which is under the supervision of the PPA. The authority is also the agency which issues permits for the operation of the terminal.
According to the information, a rice supplier from Vietnam under the company Vinafoods, Inc., shipped to the Philippines around 506,000 bags of rice transported by MV Exelixis and dropped it at HCPTI being one of the transshipment hubs of the government.
Later, it was discovered that only 503,859 bags of rice arrived at the warehouses of the National Food Authority (NFA) while around 3,000 bags of rice were found missing.
Peralta stressed that these information were repeatedly reported by the media while other concerned citizen groups has also called on the government specifically the PPA to conduct an investigation on the alleged rice smuggling.
“There were calls for the respondents to investigate the reports of rice smuggling and other illegal activities in all port communities nationwide, but until now all were left with deaf ears,” said Peralta.
While PPA continues to ignore calls for investigation, Peralta said that the rice smuggling activities in our ports is causing undue injury to the government and also to the Filipino people who are paying with their taxes for the importation of rice.
It can be recalled that about the last week of October, a consumer group formally lodged a graft complaint also before the Ombudsman against officials of the NFA and officials of HCPTI for the alleged illegal storage of imported rice.