ILOILO CITY, July 13 (PNA) — Sultan Kudarat Governor Datu Suharto Mangudadatu said local officials are now strictly monitoring possible entry of fake rice in their home province.
”We already had a meeting to strictly monitor the fake rice,” the governor, who came to this city to meet with Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. Monday morning, said.
He said he is grateful that so far, there has been no report yet reaching his office about the proliferation of fake rice that is also the subject of a Senate hearing today.
”So far sa Davao pa lang and wala pa sa iba (So far the discovery has only been in Davao and not yet in other provinces),” the Sultan Kudarat governor said.
Mangudadatu added that possible entry points of fake rice are Davao City, Surigao, Cagayan and General Santos City. The fake rice was discovered in Davao del Sur recently.
Sen. Cynthia Villar, who was here Friday, said in an interview that they are looking into the connection between the proliferation of fake rice and rice smuggling. She said that the Senate committee on agriculture and food, which she chairs, was set to investigate the origin of fake rice.
The lady senator also warned about the hazardous effects of fake rice to human health.(PNA)