Lawyers representing the rice importer in the seized shipment in Subic said the claim of  Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon that they were unaware of the rice shipment from India unloaded at the Subic Bay Freeport is inaccurate as documents from the Bureau of Customs (BoC) will show.
Official documents presented by lawyers from the Ongkiko, Manhit, Custodio and Acorda Law Office,  including an Electronic Way (E Way) bill, was entered with the BoC at the time of entry of the vessel of Vinalines Shipping containing the 419,422 bags of rice.
The ship was  unloaded under the very auspices of the BoC and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) officials.
“The Bureau of Customs is respectfully urged to first review all documentary evidence presented by our client and to refrain from prejudging the appeal,” the trader’s counsel said, adding “the unabashed mistreatment of this case is a concern that impacts on the reputation not only of the importer, but also of the Philippine Subic SSEZ as a free port,” lawyer Demetrio Custodio Jr. said.
An E Way bill was filed with BoC upon entry of the vessel on April 4 and has been electronically countersigned by the BoC system on April 4. Additionally, BoC had even boarded the vessel on the same day and post inspection had provided a general permit to discharge the imported cargo. The E Way bill, Record of Vessel Boarded and Import Permit are all documents from the bureau itself.
Furthermore, the claim of the BoC that there were 430,000 bags of rice as reported in several newspapers was also belied by documents from three independent entities attesting that there were only 419,422 bags. These documents consist of  the “Certificate of goods discharge” signed by JT Cargo Handling and Port Services Inc., the cargo handling company that handled the unloading of the ship, Vinalines Shipping Co.  
There is a detailed report from Intertek, a globally recognized independent surveyor, which provides extensive details during the 15 days it took to fully unload the ship specifically mentioning 419,422 bags. All three parties have signed the discharge document specifying 419,422 bags were unloaded.
The attempt to include the company in some missing 4,000 bags of rice from SBMA is also highly suspicious as the four security guards on duty at the SBMA at the supposed time that some 4,000 bags of rice were lost said there were no missing bags.
SBMA interviewed the four security guards that included the one that had allegedly spoken to the Customs officials. All four guards provided written statements to SBMA that there were no missing rice bags. SBMA itself released a statement yesterday that they completed their own investigation and no bags were missing.
Lawyers of Amira, an international food company, said they will exhaust all legal remedies to protect what is rightfully theirs.