THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said that several rice importers are deliberately holding their shipments inside the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) until prices spike.
PPA General Manager Jay Santiago on Thursday, September 19, said 888 containers of nearly half a million sacks of rice are inside the ports, waiting for release. More than half of the shipments have been cleared by the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), but are yet to be taken out.
“Nakipag-ugnayan na sa Department of Agriculture (DA) na kapag nagbigay sila permit to import, dapat i-require ang consignees na i-pullout agad maximum of five days sa mga pantalan para mag-stabilize presyo ng bigas,” Santiago said.
He said storage fees in ports are cheaper than private warehouses. Ports give shipments free storage for five days, after which they are being charged P700 per container per day.
The DA earlier said that port congestion was partly to blame for rice prices remaining high as importers were having difficulty withdrawing their shipments.
Santiago however said there’s no port congestion in Manila, as MICT is only 70 percent utilized and there’s enough space inside. Other shipments also take an average of 5.4 days before they were pulled out.
REQUEST TO EXPEDITE
Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. still called on the PPA to expedite the movement of nearly a thousand container vans filled with imported rice.
Laurel said many container vans have been sitting in Manila ports for months.
“We are thankful that the PPA has acted promptly on the information we provided and recognized the potential issue of hoarding of imported rice in Manila ports,” said Tiu Laurel.
The delay in releasing the imported rice has raised concerns over food security, especially as the country faces ongoing inflation pressures.
“We respectfully urge the PPA to prioritize the movement of these rice stocks to help increase supply for this essential food staple and potentially lower retail prices,” he added.
By facilitating the swift movement of these goods, the government aims to stabilize rice prices and ensure that consumers have access to affordable food options. (ABS-CBN News)
