PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte defended his decision to suspend the importation of rice, saying such a move was 'folly' as local farmers could not meet the country’s total production because of natural calamities.Speaking at the inauguration of a baseload coal-fired power plant in Saranggani on Friday, Duterte said he was 'misunderstood' on his previous order to suspend rice importation as farmers protested the implementation of the rice tariffication law.'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,' Duterte said.'There is never a way of knowing how much typhoon would ravage our plant, including our riceland and whether there would be a good harvest or not so delikado na sabihin mo (you can’t really say),' he added.Duterte signed the rice tariffication law early this year which lifts the import limit on rice and instead imposes tariffs on the staple.The law is aimed at boosting the supply of rice in the country, but local farmers are reportedly suffering from the influx of cheap imported rice.In a televised press conference on Tuesday night, Duterte ordered the suspension of rice importation during the harvest season, and instead ordered the procurement of palay from farmers.The President, however, later changed his mind and decided against suspending rice imports following a meeting with economic managers, according to Malacañang.In Friday's speech, Duterte stressed that the country still needed to import rice because local production won't be enough to meet public demand.'We have to import because the producer cannot fill up the requirements, it’s lacking,' the President said.'I have always been misunderstood. My presidency was a misunderstood venture,' he added.The President assured farmers anew that the government would buy all their palay harvests at a reasonable price.He said the government was prepared to lose billions to tide over the farmers affected by the rice tariffication law.'My duty is not to the businessmen. I have nothing to do with them. I don’t care what happens to them. I care about the people and I said, ‘Buy this because you are buying social unrest,'' Duterte said.'Allow them a leeway of comfort in life. So who bears the burden? The Filipino people. We lose. Yes, we lose. How many billions? Five, six, seven billions. So what? It’s our money. It’s our money,' he added.The Department of Agriculture has said that domestic palay production was projected to reach 18.48 million metric tons by the end of 2019. This translates to 12.09 million metric tons of milled rice.This amount is only 85 percent of the 14.24 million metric tons that the country needs per year.The rest of the country’s requirements will be addressed through importation.Malacañang had said rice importation would continue but with “stricter” application of import standards.
