50M kilos of smuggled rice seized in 2013

Senators also grilled officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture Wednesday morning on what they are doing to address the issue of rice smuggling. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile questioned Customs Commissioner John "Sunny" Sevilla and Deputy Commisioner Jessie Dellosa on why illegal rice imports continue to enter the country. Enrile said there could be a problem with the enforcement of the anti-smuggling law. Sevilla, for his part, said the bureau has issued seizure orders on 50 million kilos of rice without import permits since September last year, which accounts for 20 percent of the total rice imports last year. But he lamented that the seizure orders have been the subject of injuctions of regional trial courts particularly in Davao. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, meanwhile, reiterated the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) position that Davidson Bangayan and alleged rice smuggling king David Tan are the same person. She assured the committee that once the NBI wraps up its probe, a case will be filed before the justice department for preliminary investigation. ANC News Now, January 22, 2014