Friday, April 25, 2008 Check on warehouses in CdeO
OPERATIVES of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Thursday started scouring warehouses storing commercial rice varieties in Cagayan de Oro City.
The random inspection -- the first of its kind in the city since the rice crisis broke out -- involved at least two warehouses, where CIDG personnel did not find any violation.
"It was a surprise inspection. It's part of the government's continuing effort to monitor rice inventory, uncover hoarders and possible repacking of subsidized rice into commercial variety," said Rex Tapongot of the Consumer Welfare Division of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Northern Mindanao, which was part of the inspection team.
The CIDG-led team, which also consisted of regional personnel from the National Food Authority (NFA) and the Department of Agriculture, found that the inspected warehouses complied with the government regulations on rice wholesaling and warehousing rice supplies, Tapongot said.
"To their amazement of the inspection team, we even found that there is enough supply of rice in the city, although the price is another matter," the DTI personnel said.
In one warehouse in Gusa, the average daily sales was pegged at 500 sacks priced at P1,495 per bag, according the to the teams' inventory.
In another warehouse near Cogon Market, 150 bags of rice are sold on average everyday, with prices ranging from P1,550 to P1,620.
Computed in retail prices, the average wholesaling prices from the two bodegas reflect the current cost of commercial price in the market.
Almost all of the rice supplies stored in the inspected bodegas come from Cotabato and Bukidnon provinces, it was found out. (Danilo V. Adorador III)
