GEN. TRIAS
CITY, CAVITE (PIA) –
President Ferdinand R.
Marcos Jr. on Friday
stressed the government’s
drive against rice smuggling as he continued distributing confiscated rice
to poor families in General
Trias, Cavite to help them
cope with rising prices.
The President
distributed 1,200 sacks of
rice to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
(4Ps) beneficiaries, which
was part of the 42,180
sacks of rice confiscated
by the Bureau of Customs
(BOC) in one of its warehouse raids last week.
During the distribution, the President, who
is also the Agriculture Secretary, cited the need to
improve agricultural productivity and help process
agricultural products.
“Sa agrikultura,
ang kailangang gawin ng
pamahalaan ay pagandahin ang produksyon,
pagandahin ang ani, at
tulungan ang pagproseso ng mga produktong
pang-agrikultura.”
President Marcos added that the government will focus on
addressing the illegal importation of agricultural
products.
“Binigyan ko ng
instructions ang Bureau
of Customs (BOC) [na]
imbestigahang mabuti at
hanapin ang mga illegal
importers [at] mga smuggler ng bigas.”
[I have instructed
the Bureau of Customs to
investigate and look for
the illegal rice importers
and smugglers.]
In his message,
the President cited rice
hoarding as one of the
main causes of the rising
prices in the market.
“Bakit aakyat
ang presyong [ng bigas]?
Natuklasan namin na ang
nangyayari ay ‘yung tinatawag na hoarding [kung
saan] mag-smuggle sila
ng bigas, itinatago nila
para tumaas ang presyo,
bago nila bitawan at pagkakitaan ‘yung malaking
halaga.”
PBBM added:
“Hindi naman tama na
pinahihirapan ang taumbayan para lamang kumita. Kaya sinabi ko sa ating
mga ahensya [na] tingnan
nang mabuti at tiyakin natin na ‘yung mga smuggled rice ay mahahanap
natin dahil ito ang dapat
ibigay sa taumbayan.”
[It is not right to
burden the people just to
earn. That is why I instructed our agencies to ensure
that we find those smuggled rice which should be
given to the people.”
The chief executive said the government
waited for 15 days to let
the alleged smugglers
prove the legitimacy of
their operations, which
caused delays in the distribution of rice. He added
that the government is trying to cut the holding period to seven (7) days.
“Dahil kung legal
ka na importer, ay hawak
mo dapat ang mga dokumento,” the chief executive emphasized.
With the help of
the Department of Social
Welfare and Development
(DSWD), the DA started
distributing the smuggled
rice to 4Ps beneficiaries.
