“Congressmen are seeking an explanation from Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman on why her department failed to use PHP58 million worth of rice, which the Bureau of Customs (BOC) had seized and donated to Typhoon Yolanda victims,” reports Jezz Diaz in The Philippine Star.
As such, the House committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has “asked Soliman to attend its next hearing so she could shed light on the rice that is now rotting in containers at the Subic Freeport.”
The report explained the origin of the said rice haul: “The rice, shipped from Vietnam, was loaded in 90 20-foot containers, which the Customs office at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) seized in 2012 after it was wrongly declared as construction materials. It was consigned to Oriental Tradelink Express, Inc. and Masagana Import-Export Inc.”
The rice shipment is estimated to be about 45,000 bags.
