Duterte on legalizing rice smuggling: No, of course not

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday underscored that he is not in favor of legalizing rice smuggling in the country.

Duterte made the comment after Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said he would propose to legalize all transactions related to rice, include smuggling, in order to address the rice crisis in the Zamboanga-Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi (Zambasulta) region.

"The smuggling itself? No, of course not. That would be destructive to the economy. You'd put down the market in turmoil and that would promote disorder in this country," Duterte said in a short press conference before leaving the country for a three-day official visit to Israel.

"Those smuggled rice have not paid any access or tariff or whatever so they are confiscated... and maybe I shall distribute it for free or go down to the last prices prevailing in the market," Duterte added.

Last week, Piñol said he would propose before the National Food Authority to legalize rice smuggling in Zambasulta as the area has been relying on smuggled rice, but it was stopped after Duterte’s meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in July.

“Kasi traditional sa kanila ‘yung umasa ng bigas sa kabila. So, sabi ko, rather than allow smuggling, an illegal activity, to continue, we might as well legalize it,” Piñol said.

Zamboanga City and Basilan have been placed under a state of calamity as rice prices went up to as high as P70-P80 per kilo.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate committee on Food and Agriculture, has dismissed the idea of legalizing rice smuggling in order to address the supply shortage. —KG, GMA News