Bishop urges probe of 'devils' in rice trading

A Catholic bishop has urged authorities to investigate the "devils" in the rice importation scam that President Benigno Aquino III exposed earlier this month. "Marami diyan ang diyablo (Many among them are devils)," said Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, referring to rice traders who engage in anomalous deals. Two weeks ago, President Benigno Aquino III said only one individual or group seemed to have cornered the National Food Authority's private sector-financed importation of rice. For their "greed," Gutierrez hardly saw a difference between the allegedly manipulative importers and rice traders that he blamed for the shortage of the staple in Mindanao two years ago. Gutierrez then accused some retailers of hoarding and repacking government-subsidized rice to sell it to the poor at higher prices. The bishop said their acts are especially grave because they take advantage of the needy. In 2008, he related that rice hoarders could be refused Holy Communion because they are "public sinners," he related. "I will talk to them in private and ask them to return what they've stolen. If they say 'yes,' then I will absolve them... I will give them communion. If they say 'no,' then they're the ones excommunicating themselves," Gutierrez at that time said. The bishop reminded rice traders anew that they cannot bring their profits "to the next life." "What is important is your good deeds," Gutierrez said. Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual, meanwhile, called on the government to be "transparent about the situation of our rice industry." In an interview with Church-run Radyo Veritas, Pascual said it is ironic that an agricultural country like the Philippines is running short on rice. "The government should work hard for us to become self-sufficient in rice." — JE/OMG, GMANews.TV