MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to implement rice tariffication in order stomp corruption and fend off rice cartels.
“I am decided na tariffication. Walang limit well of course, you have to auction. Kung sino ‘yung who can bid the highest, doon natin ibigay sa kanila… wala ng istorya istorya. Kung sinong may pera, mag-import ka sige. That could really stop corruption, ‘yung quota quota,” Duterte said in a press briefing in Tuguegarao City.
“‘Pag may control ang gobyerno, corruption ‘yan. And I tell you again, for as long as [mayroong] corruption and we cannot improve on law and order, we can never hope to rise. We will implement tariffication… maybe next one. Just enforce the law, allow everybody kung sino may pera. If he wins the bid, he can have it. It can also prevent the cartel,” Duterte added.
The proposed rice tariffication law seeks to lift the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice and allow private traders to import the staple from countries of their choice.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the rice tarrification law, if enacted, will reduce inflation by 0.8 percentage points in early 2019.
Sen. Cynthia Villar earlier pronounced that the Senate is expected to pass the proposed measure this month while the House of Representatives already passed the bill last August. (GMA News)
