Politicians up in arms over the loss of smuggled rice: Plan to steal rice from Customs warehouses on

Expect people to lose their heads and "their shirts" shortly after the seizure of tons of imported rice worth a billion and so.

Several heads of political personalities are now trying to figure out how to source their "rice donations". Most of these sacks of rice were intended for the May 13 elections. Sources say at least 600-700 million pesos worth of rice imports were ordered by hundreds of political aspirants running in this election. Now, with the seizure of the contraband, many political operators are asking for their money back.

Rice has been a "political commodity" literally since 1987. Aside from money, rice is given as a form of vote buying. Politicians allocate at least a sack of rice per family during elections. These happen in the rural areas, and some cities in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Davao.

Two of the named smugglers in this case reportedly asked the intervention of a Filipino-Chinese businessman close to President Aquino. A source however said that the President will not entertain their pleas. Customs Chief Ruffy Biazon was given strict orders to implement a no-nonsense drive against rice and sugar smuggling.

Several Customs personnel are even "volunteering" their services to these smugglers, offering them an option to siphon off several tons from the Customs warehouse. Like what the smugglers did in Clark and Subic, Cebu based smugglers will try to smuggle the rice out of the warehouse.

Alerting Mr. Danny Lim of the Customs. Sir, guard these warehouses with your lives. You owe it to the people.