THE Senate on Wednesday ordered the arrest of three traders, including an executive of an Indian company, earlier linked to the rice smuggling attempt in the Subic Freeport Zone and in Albay province early this year.

Ordered arrested were Jan Dexter Marfil of the the Masagana Import-Export Incorporated, Magda-ngal Diego Maralit Bayani 3rd, St. Andrews Field Grains and Cereals Trading; and Protik Guha, chief executive officer of Indian company Amira Foods.

The three separate orders were issued by the Senate committees on agriculture and food, ways and means, trade and commerce and the blue ribbon during the resumption of Senate investigation on the rice smuggling in Subic and in Albay.

Marfil was earlier cited for contempt for his failure to truthfully answer the questions of the Senate panel regarding his involvement in the smuggling of 90 container vans of Vietnam rice in Albay.

The Senate Legal Counsel was also directed by the Senate committees to file appropriate charges against Marfil for violation of Articles 183 and 184 on false testimony of the Revised Penal Code and other special laws.

The panel also ordered the arrest of Bayani and Protik who are being linked in the foiled smuggling of the 420,000 sacks of rice at the Subic Freeport.

The Senators junked the motion for reconsideration filed by Protik before the Senate committees and subsequently ordered his arrest.

Bayani’s arrest order came after he refused to answer questions regarding his arrangement with his financiers and his failure to attend the hearings.

Meanwhile Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona 3rd, disclosed the supposed irregularities in the bidding process of the National Food Authority (NFA) wherein several winning bidders in the agency’s rice importation program were found to have false qualifications in their registration.

Guingona noted that some winning bidders are operating together and could be mere “dummies” of unscrupulous individuals or groups that want to control or monopolize the importation of rice in the country.

Former NFA chief Angelito Banayo for his part maintained that there was nothing irregular in the bidding process of the NFA particularly on the 380,000 metric tons of rice under the private sector-financed (PSF) importation for the current year.

Banayo explained that the NFA always see to it that the bidders are legitimate by requiring them to submit all the needed documents during the opening of bids.

Banayo in a prepared statement said that the bidding, which was participated by a total of 379 bidders from open and farmers sector, netted the NFA a total of P2.6 billion despite a reduced volume, from 660,000 in 2011 to 380,000 in 2012. The aggregate of P1.6 billion in 2011, and 2.6 billion in 2012, or P4.2 billion, dwarfs the P103-million income in 2010 under the previous dispensation by almost 41 times, or 4,100 percent.

“My job as NFA administrator is not centered on investigating smugglers or tax cheats. We have all our respective responsibilities, and we can only act in harmony with each other government agency’s mandate by respecting the regularity of each other’s certification process,” Banayo said.