Rice hoarding a crime, says Cabinet secretary

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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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February 13, 2018
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MANILA – Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. urged the National Food Authority (NFA) to inspect warehouses for possible rice hoarding.

Evasco, also the chairman of the interagency NFA Council, warned that rice hoarding is a “criminal liability.”

“First to be monitored are the bodegas kept and managed by private traders, which you know would always go for higher prices at the expense of the buying public,” he told a Malacañang press briefing on Monday.

The Palace official blamed rice traders hoarding supplies for the increase in prices.

“Nagtatago iyan in consideration of the time when they can sell their rice at a higher price,” he said. “That has been the perception ever since. Normal naman talaga [iyon sa mga] negosyante.”

But Evasco stressed that rice hoarding is a criminal practice.

“Iyong pag-hoard, pag-keep, it’s not only a criminal liability. It is, in fact, immoral,” the Palace official said.

The NFA Council chairman also urged proper agencies to “prosecute” and “arrest” hoarding rice traders./PN
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