President Noynoy Aquino and his “rice czar” Administrator Lito Banayo of the National Food Authority (NFA) appear not to be on the same page with regard to the estimated P500-million rice shipment seized last month by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) in the Subic Freeport.
As far as Banayo is concerned, the 430,000 sacks of rice which Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon ordered impounded on suspicion it was being smuggled into the country cannot be considered as such for as long as it does not leave the confines of the Freeport.
“Legally, as long as the rice remains inside the port and is not sold to local traders, we cannot consider it smuggled,” he had reportedly said. He did admit however before the public hearing called by the Senate agriculture committee earlier this month that the state grains agency never issued an import permit to Metro Eastern Trading Corp. (METC), the Subic locator which was allegedly responsible for facilitating the entry of the huge shipment from India and in whose leased warehouses they are now being kept under lock and key and heavy guard.
But this wasn’t what P-Noy had in mind when he called up Commissioner Biazon sometime in mid-July to inform him that a huge shipment of rice from India was about to be landed at the Subic Freeport. “Monitor closely” was the marching order issued by the President.
It turned out that Mr. Aquino was actually the one who alerted the clueless Biazon to the illegal operation involving certain officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and some businessmen associated with the “Indian connection” which is said to be one of the big  criminal syndicates around responsible for big time rice smuggling in the Philippines. I recall they were the ones being targeted by Anakpawis party- list Rep. Rafael Mariano when he filed a resolution in 2002 seeking an investigation into a similar anomaly amounting to about P9.5 billion, because the market was being flooded with rotten rice also from India.
During the resumption of the Senate public hearing last Monday, Biazon was pressured to confess under intense questioning by Sen. Loren Legarda that it was a text message from the chief executive which prompted him to take a closer look at the developments in Subic, and it resulted in the seizure of the shipment owned by the Amira C Foods, DMCC of India.
Biazon said he didn’t have the faintest idea who could have tipped off P-Noy that 430,000 sacks of imported Indian rice had arrived in Subic and that certain smart asses were trying to illegally dispose of them in the local market.
The names of SBMA deputy director for business and investments Stef Sano and SBMA senior deputy administrator for operations Redentor Tuazon were prominently mentioned during the hearings for their supposed roles in allowing the Amira rice shipment to be unloaded in the Freeport even though it lacked the required clearances from the national government. Naturally, both Sano and Tuazon denied any irregularity on their part and any links to smuggling.
But Sano found himself on the hot seat after it was revealed that he had somehow used the name of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in trying to secure a clearance for the release of the questionable rice shipment from the office of Tuazon, who said he had refused to accede to the request of his colleague.
“Bakit mo binanggit ang pangalan ko kay Mr. Tuazon? Para maimpluwensiyahan si Mr. Tuazon na ibigay niya ang gusto ninyo dahil sa supposed connection niya sa akin?” Enrile was quoted by television reporter Ryan Chua as telling Sano.   
Sano later tried to apologize to Enrile, but was reportedly curtly brushed aside by the grand old man of the Senate.
In this connection, a civil society group called the Alliance of Concerned Citizens of Olongapo for Reforms and Development (ACCORD) is demanding that SBMA chairman and administrator Roberto Garcia, out of delicadeza, go on leave so that “no stone will be left unturned” in the ongoing probe into the Amira rice controversy.
ACCORD president Eduardo de Guzman said in a statement to media that there is really no way SBMA chief Garcia can escape being embroiled in the controversy, after all the principal characters who are being implicated are people directly under his control and supervision, in reference to Sano and Tuazon who were grilled by the senators.
ACCORD’s initiative, I was informed, is being supported by the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce (SBFCC) which is composed of several locators and residents who claim to be totally disgruntled over the rampant corruption being tolerated by SBMA officials and are agitating that radical changes be implemented by Malacañang so that the Freeport can reach its potential of becoming a showcase for economic development in the country.
 “Garcia should at least have the decency to take a leave of absence — in the same manner Bureau of Corrections director Gaudencio Pangilinan voluntarily relinquished his post without being ordered to do so, did in the wake of the Rolito Go brouhaha — to dispel suspicions from the public that a cover up is in the works, especially since some of his subordinates are being taken to task for the alleged smuggling caper,” a source associated with the SBFCC said.
The source said this current controversy is nothing new and merely the tip of the iceberg. He alleged that big time rice smuggling has been going on for a long time now, it being an open secret in the Freeport, condoned by the bureaucracy there. Meaning the SBMA, BoC and the others.
He said Garcia should not play deaf, dumb and blind to reality that Mr. Aquino is already up to his neck with numerous reports reaching the Palace regarding rampant smuggling in the Freeport, involving not only rice but other commodities as well.
The mere fact that P-Noy opted to course the tip-off about the smuggled rice shipment through the BoC instead of the SBMA is clear indication that Garcia may have lost Malacañang’s trust and confidence and is probably headed for the doghouse.