Cheap rice to flood the market soon – PRRD
The government intends to import more rice and flood the local market with cheap grains, President Dutertebared Monday after typhoon Ompong caused damage to local rice production in Luzon.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRDMC) said more than 171,932 farmers in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) alone were affected by typhoon which battered Northern and Central Luzon over the weekend.
The President said he prefers to authorize government importation of additional rice rather than require private traders to import the low-priced variety.
Duterte maintained that he would not interfere with the inventory of the private rice traders despite reports they were importing
mostly "fancy" or expensive rice.
"Tayo na lang. Ibahana lang natin. ‘Pagbili na lang tayo. Itong sabihin mo, “Eh kung mahalin niyo, 'di I will flood the market with ano...” Kasi kungmaraming ano talaga, maraming lusot eh (We will just do it. Let's flood the market and sell it. This is what you say, 'If you sell expensive rice, I will flood the market with (cheap rice).' There are many excuses)," Duterte said during a briefing in La Trinidad, Benguet Monday.
"O tayo na lang mag-import ng mura. Sige, hayaan mo 'yung imbentaryo ninyo diyan. O tapos bahaan ko 'yung ano. Import... Ilan lang man mayaman dito (We will import cheap rice. Just leave their inventory alone and I will flood the market. There are only few rich people here anyway)," the President added.
Duterte issued the remarks after the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) proposed that private rice traders be compelled to import lower priced rice, not just the expensive variety.
Rice is coming Based on DTI monitoring, private rice traders are reportedly selling only expensive variety in the market. Thereareno cheap rice sold by the private traders, a trade official told the President.
The rice supply was discussed during the Benguet briefing after agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol reported that the damage to agriculture caused by Ompong has reached 114 billion
Duterte assured the public that he was expecting the arrival of more imported rice in the country.
“Rice, it's coming up. I'm expecting it tonight,” he said Monday.
Duterte also made a strong pitch for the passage of a measure that will lift import quota system and impose tariffs on rice instead.
"You know, as long as we control importation sa rice, there will be corruption. Iyong quota-quota, corruption 'yan. Sigurado ‘yan,” he said.
By liberalizing the rice imports, Duterte said anybody could import rice “as long as we build a certain inventory" and he wants the country’s inventory to reach the roof of warehouses.
"Sinabi ko kay Manny (Piñol), “If this is the roof, ang inventory man dito, isagad mo. Tutal bitawan mo rin 'yan, you can compete it. Eh kung mura, marami naman bibili talaga ng mura eh,” he said.
Figures from the NDRRMC show that damage to crops in CAR has reached 12,869,841,107.61–11,794,940,838.63 is for corn, 1390,457,194.28 for rice, 1612, 652,354.70 for HVCC (high value commercial crops), 15,508,250.00 for livestock and poultry and 166,282,470.00 for agricultural infrastructure. (With a report from Francis T. Wakefield)