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Zamboanga rice crisis a disaster waiting to happen, Piñol says

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Davinci Maru, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1D5ifywOK5I?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>MANILA - The rice shortage in the south, where prices have skyrocketed as high as P70 per kilo, is a disaster waiting to happen, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Thursday.He said Zamboanga City and its nearby provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi have relied heavily on smuggled rice, which were brought into the country through Sabah.Smuggled rice was sold then as low as P29 per kilo.Nobody complained until President Rodrigo Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad agreed in June to close the borders in the south to address terrorism and smuggling, he said.Supplies have become scarce and the crisis escalated quickly due to the delay of the arrival of NFA rice.Piñol faulted local officials for hardly lifting a finger on the illegal trade.&quot;It&#x27;s plain and simple negligence on the part of local officials, who relied on the available supply of smuggled rice... and tolerated. In fact, there are stories that some local officials, including their relatives, are involved in the smuggling,&quot; Piñol said.He said smuggling killed the rice industry in the region.&quot;Sino ba naman ang magsasaka at magtatanim ng palay &#x27;eh &#x27;yung competition mo ay P29 per kilo?&quot; he said.<div>STATE OF CALAMITY</div>On Wednesday, Zamboanga City declared a <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/08/22/18/state-of-calamity-declared-in-zamboanga-city-due-to-rice-shortage">state of calamity</a> due to the rice shortage.The crisis <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/23/18/zamboanga-city-rice-crisis-slowly-easing-mayor">started to ease</a> after the arrival of commercial rice from Isabela province and India, Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said Thursday.If Piñol has his way, there&#x27;s no need for the local government to declare a state of calamity.&quot;I don&#x27;t understand why they have to declare a state of calamity, unless their intention is to use the calamity fund,&quot; he said.Piñol dismissed reports that there&#x27;s no available supply of rice.&quot;Una hindi totoo &#x27;yung sinasabi na walang bigas. Kaya lang lean months ngayon kaya mataas ang presyo,&quot; he said.Piñol said they will be opening a Bigasan ng Bayan in Zamboanga City on Saturday.At least 120,000 sacks of government-subsidized rice are expected to arrive in Zamboanga City this week.

The rice shortage in the south, where prices have skyrocketed as high as P70 per kilo, is a disaster waiting to happen, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Thursday.

The rice shortage in the south, where prices have skyrocketed as high as P70 per kilo, is a disaster waiting to happen, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Thursday.

Zamboanga rice crisis a disaster waiting to happen, Piñol says

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Zamboanga rice crisis a disaster waiting to happen, Piñol says

Davinci Maru,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 24, 2018 03:03 AM PHT

|

Updated Sep 29, 2019 03:26 PM PHT

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Bandila

DZMM

Emmanuel Piñol

Manny Piñol

rice shortage

rice crisis

Zamboanga City

NFA

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