NFA: Rice smuggling made to look legal during Arroyo admin

An audit report commissioned by the National Food Authority (NFA) said rice smuggling was made to appear legal during the Arroyo administration, NFA administrator Angelito Banayo on Tuesday told GMA News’ “24 Oras."
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV “Parang ni-legalize ang rice smuggling dahil libre sila sa taxes, pagkatapos halos wala namang binayad sa gobyerno kundi P25 per bag," Banayo said. The NFA said incidences of rice smuggling resulted to billions of pesos in losses for the NFA, which is now saddled by a P177-billion debt. The agency also said the government imported to much rice in 2008, and eventually overpriced it. President Benigno Aquino III in January cast suspicions on the NFA’s private sector-financed rice importation in 2010, saying only one group or person seemed to have benefited from the program. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/211002/favored-few-may-have-cornered-nfa-rice-imports-pnoy In February, the NFA Council approved a measure to bid out rice import allocations, junking a first-come, first-served system that has supposedly bred connivances between private rice importers and NFA insiders. — Paterno Esmaquel II/VS, GMA News