Duterte sees no need to suspend rice importation: Palace

Duterte on Tuesday declared a temporary ban on rice importation to pave the way for the harvest for local rice from late September to mid-December. (File photo by Adam Cohn/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to push through with the rice importation amid harvest season, after hearing the explanation of Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar, Malacañang said on Friday.

The lifting of suspension order on the importation of rice came following Duterte’s meeting with Dar, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea at Malacañang Palace on Wednesday night.

“Baka nakita niya na hindi pa kailangan (Perhaps, he sees that there is no need for it),” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo told Palace reporters when asked why Duterte lifted his suspension order on rice imports in the country.

“Siguro napaliwanag ni Secretary Dar kung ano ang mas magandang gawin. Siguro ganoon ang lumalabas kasi initially ang order niya, suspension (Perhaps, Secretary Dar was able to provide better options. Perhaps, that’s what happened because initially, he ordered the suspension),” he added.

Duterte on Tuesday declared a temporary ban on rice importation to pave the way for the harvest for local rice from late September to mid-December.

But on Thursday, Dar announced that the importation of the staple will continue, in line with the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law which liberalizes the importation of the staple.

Instead of suspending the entry of imported rice, Duterte sought the imposition of “stricter” measures, Panelo said.

“They (DA) will just be strict on the requirements for the importation,” he said.

“Baka mas strikto ngayon kasi kapag ni-liberalize mo, hindi ka masyadong strikto hindi ba dahil open ang importation mo (It will be stricter now because if you liberalize rice imports, you are not that strict because you are open to importation). This time, they will be very strict on that,” Panelo added.

Continued support

Panelo guaranteed that local farmers would continue getting support from the Duterte government to address the issue of plunging farmgate prices of palay (unhusked rice) as a result of the implementation of RA 11203.

He said Duterte has directed the purchase of more rice from local farmers.

“What the President is going to do now is to help the farmers by subsidizing and buying rice from them,” the Palace official said.

“Because of the rice importation, parang wala nang bumibili sa kanila kasi mas mura. Sabi ni Presidente, kahit malugi ang gobyerno, bibilhin na lang namin sa inyo (Because of the rice importation, some opted not to buy staple from them. The President said the government would buy rice from local farmers, despite the possibility that it might suffer losses),” he added.

In a speech in Taguig City Thursday, Duterte said it is better to have a warehouse filled with excess rice than a shortage, as long as his administration is able to help local farmers.

Dar said Duterte already directed the National Food Authority (NFA) to raise the country’s emergency buffer stock from 15 to 30 days by buying more unmilled rice from farmers.

The NFA will accelerate the turnover of its inventory by buying more palay and selling more regular milled rice at an average of 20,000 50-kilogram bags of rice per day.

A total of PHP3 billion will also be allocated for cash transfer extension that will benefit 600,000 farmers tilling one-half to two hectares of rice land every year.