ABRA lawmaker Joseph Sto. Nino Bernos urged government to automatically add the 27,000 sacks of seized rice to the stocks of the National Food Authority instead of selling it to the agency.

This following the Philippine Navy catching foreign vessel carrying rice off Zamboanga Sibugay last Sunday.

Bernos insisted that government must not sell the seized Vietnam rice amounting to P67.9 million anymore, since rice is a valuable staple food of the Filipino people.

“While I agree that the seized rice should be given to the NFA, the agency should acquire it at no cost at all, in the first place, the smugglers were caught in an unlucky situation where their illicit goods were intercepted by our capable law enforcers.”

Bernos, hailing from a predominantly agricultural province, said that the government money about to be used to buy the smuggled sacks of rice for the NFA can be used to import another volume of rice that can be increase the supply of the food agency.

“This is why we filed House Bill 7348, which aims to automatically turn over seized smuggled rice in favor of the National Food Authority,” Bernos said. “This will ensure that the agency will have a comfortable stock for its usage, and that the DSWD will have a supply to distribute in times of calamities.”

The Abra lawmaker said that the measure is a manifestation of the police power of the State to regulate behaviors and enforce order within the territory in the name of welfare and security of the people and is a response to the mere recommendatory and discretionary provisions of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act regarding disposition of smuggled goods. (Ace Alegre)