Gov't nabs rice hoarders in Iligan City; 40,000 bags of rice seized

ILIGAN CITY - Two Iligan City-based rice traders, one of them a Taiwanese national, were arrested yesterday by a composite government team for alleged hoarding of 40,000 bags of rice and charged with hoarding, involvement in cartel operations and profiteering.

National Food Authority (NFA) Acting Administrator Tomas Escarez said the rice stocks of businessmen Sonia C. Payan, a Filipino-Chinese and Jhonny D. Tan, a Taiwanese, kept in four warehouses in Iligan City were seized by the government.

Escarez said the two traders were the first to be arrested in the intensified campaign against rice hoarding ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Members of the Sub-Committee on Rice Hoarding, Cartel and Smuggling which include the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippine Coast Guard, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the NFA, swooped down on the four warehouses following reports of alleged hoarding by the two grains traders.

Escarez said the documents in the possession of the two traders were inconsistent with their stock inventory and appeared spurious prompting the NFA to order the seizure.

The NFA adjudication officer Sam Dimaporo and Chairperson of the Sub-Committee NFA Director Diane Silva of Region, together with ARD Buerano and all Reg X PMs, conducted the adjudication proceedings.

The arrest of the suspected hoarders and the seizure of the rice stocks was the first major accomplishment of the government team involved in the campaign against rice hoarding. [Manny Pinol, FB Page]