{"id":258505,"date":"2020-06-18T07:27:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T11:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=258505"},"modified":"2020-06-18T07:27:25","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T11:27:25","slug":"no-rice-imports-sans-dutertes-authorization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/18\/no-rice-imports-sans-dutertes-authorization\/","title":{"rendered":"No rice imports sans Duterte\u2019s authorization"},"content":{"rendered":"
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However, Duterte also emphasized how the importation of rice was necessary to keep the country\u2019s supply of rice stable. (File Photo<\/a>: National Food Authority\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through its attached corporation, the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), will only import rice once it gets the nod of President Rodrigo Duterte, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

In a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque ensured that rice importation would only proceed when Duterte gives his approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi po magi<\/em>-import [ng<\/em>\u00a0rice]\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a0DTI, PITC\u00a0ng walang<\/em>\u00a0proper authorization\u00a0galing kay Presidente<\/em>\u00a0Duterte (The DTI and PITC will not import rice without proper authorization from President Duterte),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

The Inter-Agency for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases authorized the PITC in March to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of rice.<\/p>\n

The government has allocated a PHP7.45-billion fund for the PITC\u2019s 300-MT rice importation through a government-to-government transaction to boost the country\u2019s staple stocks during the lean months.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the PITC has no legal authority to import 300 MT of rice.<\/p>\n

The DBM added that funds could not be released without a formal instruction from Duterte.<\/p>\n

Under Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, the government is only allowed to import rice \u201cin the event of a rice supply shortage\u201d and upon the issuance of an official directive from the President.<\/p>\n

The government, however, has not declared any shortage in rice supply.<\/p>\n

The DBM\u2019s pronouncement prompted the PITC to hold in abeyance the issuance of notice of award to prospective rice suppliers to the country pending the availability of funds.<\/p>\n

Last week, the PITC held the bidding for rice imports with the governments of India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar through video communications application Zoom.<\/p>\n

Roque said the PITC had already asked Duterte to approve the plan to import rice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalang<\/em>\u00a0Notice of Award\u00a0na napa-<\/em>issue\u00a0po ang<\/em>\u00a0PITC without authorization from the President.\u00a0Nag<\/em>-submit\u00a0na po ng<\/em>\u00a0request\u00a0sa<\/em>\u00a0Office of the President (There\u2019s no notice of award that has been issued by PITC without authorization from the President. It has already submitted a request from the Office of the President),\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through its attached corporation, the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), will only …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":158974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258508,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258505\/revisions\/258508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}