VietNamNet Bridge – The Philippines Minister of Agriculture Proceso Alcala has been accused of taking bribes from the Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) in exchange for the grant of a rice contract with the Vietnamese rice exporter.

The Inquirer, a daily newspaper with a highest number of readers, has quoted a source from the Metro Manila Vendors’ Association (MMVA) as saying that Alcala and the former director of NFA (National Food Authorities), Orlan Calayag, was involved in the contract with Vinafood 2 to provide 800,000 tons of rice to the Philippines.

As the rice export agreement was signed a few weeks before Calayag left office, MMVA believes that officials took full advantage of their last days in office to arrange a contract to pocket big money.

According MMVA, the agreed shipping fee was $54 per ton, which is $30 per ton higher than the market price. As such, the individuals could pocket up to $24 million for the 800,000 tons of rice imports.

The time when the contract was signed was also suspicious, in April, the peak harvesting season.

MMVA has lodged a petition about the matter to the Filipino inspection agency.

VnExpress, a Vietnamese online newspaper, has quoted Huynh The Nang, Vinafood 2’s General Director as saying that Vinafood 2 is not involved in accusing the Filipino officials.

“This is a Filipino internal affair which needs to be settled by the country. We will not give any explanations related to the matter,” Nang said.

Nguyen Ngoc Nam, Deputy General Director of Vinafood 2, has denied involvement in the accusation.

He said in Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon that the Philippines invited rice exporters from all over the world to an open international bid. The winners were those who could offer products at the lowest reasonable prices.

“The accusations may be a part of their internal disputes,” Nam said. “I can affirm that Vinafood 2 did not do this”.

In April 2014, Vietnamese rice exporters won a bid to provide 800,000 tons of rice to the Philippines by offering a low bid of $439 per ton CIF, which was $30 per ton lower than that offered by Cambodia and $35 per ton lower than the Thai bid of $474 per ton.

The representatives of the Vietnamese Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development said they had not received any official information about the accusation.

However, they said Vietnamese agencies were willing to cooperate with the Filipino agencies in their investigation.

Vinafood 2 has been involved in a similar situation before. In 2001-2003, Indonesian newspapers reported that Vinafood 2 gave the Indonesian Bureau of Logistics $1.5 million in return for the right to sell rice to the country.

However, Vinafood 2 then denied the accusation. In fact, the rice trade agreements between Vietnam and Indonesia were signed at government levels in 2001. Vinafood 2 was the corporation the government appointed to implement the rice export contracts.

Compiled K. Chi