The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said that out of the 888 containers discovered in Philippine Ports cleared by the Bureau of Customs (BoC), 300 containers have been claimed by consignees over the weekend.

These containers were believed to contain a total of 23,000 metric tons of rice and are allegedly stored by dealers hoping to take advantage of high price movements in rice.

According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), this accounts only to 0.75 percent of imported rice in the country.

DA Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa said that the Philippines have so far imported 3,093,000 metric tons.

“As of to date, according to data from the Bureau of Plant Industry, we have imported 3,093,000 metric tons. So these containers that got stuck were 23,000 metric tons, it's just a small number. Although if we look at its absolute value, this is still 23,000 metric tons,” he said in a Palace briefing.

The DA has asked the PPA to not let shipments carrying commodities to remain in ports not longer than 30 days especially during the holiday season.

“Historically speaking, most of the imported rice also arrive every fourth quarter. And it's not just rice, even our other agri commodities, especially our meat products, [would] also need to go out directly, especially this holiday season,” De Mesa added.

Meanwhile, the PPA is looking into the possibility of the ports have a low storage rate compared to private storage facilities that’s why the containers were left at the ports.

Recently, the Agriculture department has managed to keep the price of rice low which impacted the value of imported rice, thus, hurting the purchase made by rice importers.

“We can see that there is no other reason why you leave those cargoes at the port, except for the fact that they pay cheaper storage charges at the port as compared to private warehouses,”  PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago said in the same briefing.

“And, of course, there are also feedbacks to us from industry players that there are instances where they buy your rice from other countries at a not very good price and when it comes here, because of what is happening now… sometimes the disposition or sale of their imported rice is no longer favorable because the price is no longer high. That is why they are waiting for an opportunity to kick in again, for demand to increase so that the price will kick in and then they will release it,” he added.

Asked if there was a possibility of profiteering or hoarding, Santiago said he will leave it to proper authorities as the PPA is not authorized to file cases.

Consignees are urged to get their shipping containers by the end of September, or it will be donated to other agencies by October.

The DA has tasked the Bureau of Plant Industry to check the rice shipments if it is still safe for human consumption.

“Our Bureau of Plant Industry will check some of the containers. Because we looked at the list, most of it arrived not that long ago. But nevertheless, part of the responsibility of the Bureau of Plant Industry is to check on the food safety and if we see that this rice is really okay,” De Mesa said.