By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos
MANILA – Charges will be filed against government officials who will be found involved in the smuggling of rice, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
In an interview with dzBB, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said there is an ongoing investigation into the supposed involvement of government officials in the illegal importation of rice.
This developed after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., during the first episode of his “BBM Podcast” uploaded on his official Facebook page on Monday, revealed that some government officials are behind and profiting from rice smuggling.
“Marami pong paiimbestigahan ang Pangulo. ‘Yun naman po ang pangako niya. Marami pong paiimbestigahan kung meron na po tayong nauulinigan ang Pangulo (A lot will be investigated upon the directive of the President. That’s what he promised. A lot will be investigated, given that the President also has information about that),” Castro said.
“At kailangan pong ma-verify po ito para po makasuhan. Hindi po iyan tatalikuran ng Pangulo. Talaga pong dapat masampahan ng kaso (And this needs to be verified so that it can be investigated. The President will not turn his back on this. A case should definitely be filed),” she added.
Castro, however, admitted that she is not privy to the identity of the public officials who are allegedly behind this illegal activity.
Despite this, she assured the public that Marcos would act promptly to address the matter.
“Ang sinabi ng Pangulo, taga-gobyerno. Hindi naman po sinasabing taga-executive department. Marami pong sangay ang gobyerno (The President said those are from the government. But he did not mention if they are from the executive department),” she said.
“Pero kung ito po ay manggagaling sa ehekutibo, malamang po natanggal na iyan. ‘Di ba po ang sabi niya kapag verified, nalaman naming na may anomalya, tanggal agad (But if they are from the executive, they are probably fired already. Didn’t he say that when verified and we find out that there is an anomaly, he will fire them immediately).”
Castro said Marcos is also pushing for the restoration of the National Food Authority’s regulatory powers, considering that the smuggling of rice remains prevalent after the grains agency lost the power to import rice directly due to the Rice Tariffication Law.
Marcos attributed the successful launch of the PHP20-per-kg. rice program to the ongoing reforms and record-high rice production in the past years.
Castro said the initiative is sustainable until the end of December 2025 because there is enough supply of rice. (PNA)
