Manila ( AsiaNews / CBCP ) - The auxiliary bishop
of Manila, Msgr. Broderick S. Pabillo
has expressed "deep concern" about the illegal trade of rice, a
growing phenomenon that is going on nation -wide " before our eyes "
with total impunity . The
prelate speaks of how the trade is going on unchallenged , in a nation which
the level of " hunger and poverty," is wide spread and especially in
"rural areas" . Official
figures confirm the seriousness of the problem: last year every week at least
50 thousand tons - equal to 2 thousand containers - of rice were being smuggled.
The
government has repeatedly announced its intention to intervene to stem the
trade, so far without results. According
to studies of the Philippine Industrial Federation between 2002-2011 the
government has lost 1.33 trillion pesos ( 29 billion dollars) as a result of
smuggling .
Msgr.
Pabillo, President of the Standing Committee on Public Affairs of the Catholic
Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, condemned in no uncertain terms the
criminals involved in smuggling as "beyond indecent". Businessmen
including prominent Sino- Philippine businessman Davidson Bangayan are
implicated in the affair. He is accused of having smuggled tons of product under
the pseudonym "David Tan ." From
his base in Davao, the "number one " in rice trafficking has created
hubs and points of interest in Manila, Batangas, Cayagan de Oro and Cebu.
The
Auxiliary Bishop of Manila fears that billions of pesos being diverted from the
state budget because of illegal traffic; money, said the prelate , that could
be used to " finance important public projects " like " schools,
houses, roads " and
all those initiatives that " are of benefit to the population ." In
particular, he adds, " the most unfortunate ."
Using the
local language Tagalog, Msgr. Pabillo
states that "billions of pesos vanish into thin air ," because of the
misdeeds of " unscrupulous traffickers". He notes how they to compete with small-scale
farmers who do not have sufficient resources to emerge from a subsistence existence
which is both unequal and unfair. He notes that they are further depriving
farmers , already hard hit in recent months by the devastating typhoon Hayian /
Yolanda.
The
Philippines is the eighth largest producer of rice, to a volume equal to 2.8 %
of the total in 2010, Manila ranked first place among importing nations. The
crops are concentrated particularly in Luzon , Western Visayas , in the
southern and central Mindanao. The
total volume of rice produced in 2011 was just over 16 million tonnes ; there are
around 4.35 million hectares of cultivated land in total.