Duterte grants farmers' wish to defer rice imports

President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to temporarily hold rice imports to give Filipino farmers' income a boost.

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said the President made the decision to defer the importation of 250 metric tons of rice from Vietnam following requests from farmers during a rice harvest event in Talavera, Nueva Ecija on Wednesday.

"Ang hiling ko lang sa kanya, huwag isabay (ang pag-angkat) sa tag-ani. Kasi ang private sector ang mag-iimport eh, and we all know the private importers are also traders, so pwede nilang laruin ang supply, babahain nila (ang) merkado ng bigas, babagsak presyo ng palay, kawawa naman ang mga farmers," Piñol said.

[Translation:I asked the President not to import rice during the harvest season. Because the private sector does it, and we all know the private importers are also traders, so they can play around with the supply, flood the market, lower the price of rice, and that would not benefit the farmers.]

In his speech, President Dutere said, "But you know you have to protect the Filipino. Paano 'yang tulong ng gobyerno kung hindi nabibili 'yun because there is a competition mas lower in price."

[Translation:But you know, you have to protect the Filipino. What use is the help from the government if the product cannot be bought because it is competing with those with lower prices.]

Piñol said the President agreed Filipino farmers should be able to take advantage of their bountiful produce this harvest season.

Piñol added there would be no reason to import buffer stock if there was bountiful harvest locally.

During his speech, the president also promised farmers they would  get the assistance that they need, including farming equipment such as tractors.

[Source]