President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday waved away calls for Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol to resign over the mishandling of the rice crisis, saying he did not see “any serious offense.”
“I don’t see any serious offense there. We have not really lost anything except that there’s an aberration in the market,” the President said in his departure statement before flying to Israel and Jordan.
Duterte said all public officials, including him, are bound by laws.
“Maybe the laws are weak or unenforceable. All we have to do is to improve on those laws, not necessarily fire people,” he said.
The President also warned rice traders not to hoard the grain to drive up prices, saying he would not allow Filipinos to starve.
“I will not hesitate to exercise the powers of the President. I will ask the military and the police to raid your warehouses, bodegas… I can do that, and if you force me, I will,” he added.
But Duterte also shot down a proposal from Piñol to legalize the operations of rice smugglers in some provinces such as Zamboanga, which recently declared a state of calamity because of the shortage of rice.
“No, of course not,” Duterte said in response to a question about legalizing rice smuggling. “That would be destructive to the economy. You’d put the market in turmoil… and promote disorder in the country.”
The President said he would import rice and lose money in the market than allow smuggling.
On Thursday, Piñol drew criticism for recommending that trice smugglers in Mindanao be allowed to operate as legitimate importers to decrease the rice prices.
He said people in the region considered the smuggling of rice in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi as “traditional trading” between the country and Malaysia.
Lawmakers called for his resignation.
The Palace has defended Piñol, however, saying the rice situation will normalize next month when the harvest comes in.
ANAC-IP Party-list Rep. Jose Panganiban Jr. also defended Piñol and National Food Authority Administrator Jason Aquino amid mounting calls for them to resign.
He blamed the recent supply problems for the lack of coordination between the NFA and the NFA Council.
Opposition lawmakers led by House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez had hit Piñol and Aquino, blaming them for the rice crisis and soaring prices for the staple in Zamboanga City.
Suarez also slammed Piñol for allowing the importation of agricultural and fishery products, instead of protecting the interests of local farmers and fishers.
Piñol, meanwhile, said the issue of weevil-infested rice imports was being blown out of proportion, saying it was safe to eat rice found in sacks infested with the insect.
Piñol said there is nothing wrong with eating rice infested with weevils or “bukbok” as it only needed to be washed. On Friday, Piñol showed how to cook weevil-laced rice, and even ate it.
