Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol today said the Department of Agriculture is seeking a two-year extension of quantitative restriction for the importation of rice because this is the sentiment of farmers in a nationwide consultation.

Piñol said this is the position that he will present when the Economic Cluster of the Cabinet meets and decides on whether to lift the QR.

The lifting of the QR will allow the entry of imported rice which could affect the lives of about 2.4-million families who rely on rice farming.

The DA recently conducted a nationwide consultation process where the consensus of the stakeholders was to ask President Rodrigo R. Duterte to extend the QR.

“I am asking for a two-year extension of the quantitative restriction because of the belief that the Filipino rice farmers are not yet prepared, though no fault of their own, for the lifting of the QR,” Piñol said.

“As the Agriculture Secretary, it is my moral obligation to stand up and express the position of the Filipino farmers,” Piñol stressed.

He noted that so far, the Cabinet Economic Cluster has yet to make a final decision on the issue.

At the same time, DA Undersecretary for Operations Ariel Cayanan pointed out that the DA requested for a budget to enable it to deal with a two-year extension of the QR for imported rice.  (DA-OSEC)

Reference:

USec Ariel T. Cayanan
Undersecretary for Operations