Activist-lawyer Agree Guevarra on Thursday urged Agriculture Secretary Procesco Alcala to conduct a serious study on rice importation, claiming the cost of its latest rice importation from Vietnam was disadvantageous to the government to the tune of P457 million. Last April rice was imported from Vietnam was 187,000 metric tons and was overpriced at P19,762 per metric ton according to the government documents. Guevarra said the payment made by the National Food Authority was way higher than the prevailing market price in Vietnam when the deal was made, which then stood only at P15,480 per metric ton.
Read the story by Delfin T. Mallari Jr. from the Inquirer Southern Luzon
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