It would be a “folly” to stop the importation of rice given the potential impact of natural calamities on the country’s local production, President Duterte declared yesterday.
According to the President, rice importation must continue to help ensure stable supply since it was hard to predict the onslaught of typhoons and other conditions brought by climate change on the domestic harvest.
“Now to say that you stop importation just because they are going to produce a projected number that would be a folly because I said we are the window to the Pacific Island,” he said during his visit to Sarangani.
“There is never a way of knowing how much typhoon would ravage our plant, including our rice land, and whether there would be a good harvest or not so delikado na sabihin mo,” he said.
The President earlier ordered the suspension of rice importation during the harvest season, and instead ordered the procurement of palay (unhusked rice) from farmers. His move sought to help farmers suffering from the entry of cheap rice imports due to the implementation of the rice tarrification law.
Duterte, however, later changed his mind and decided against suspending rice imports following a meeting with economic managers, according to Malacañang. The government instead would impose stringent measures to control the entry of rice imports into the country as well as extend cash subsidies to farmers suffering from the rice tariffication law. (Genalyn Kabiling)