Roxas' advice only echoed gov't economic team's solution to high inflation – Roque
By Roel Tibay
Published Sep 24, 2018 06:16 pm
By Genalyn Kabiling
Former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas does not have the “monopoly of solutions” to the country’s high inflation, Malacañang said Monday in dismissing his unsolicited advice to the government as nothing new.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque
(Jansen Romero/ MANILA BULLETIN) Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the government does not need the help of Roxas, noting that his suggestions were already recommended by the President’s economic team. “Who told him he is the only one who said that. Basahin n’yo naman iyong sinabi niya, hindi ba sinabi na rin iyan ng mga economic team (Read what he said, didn’t the economic team say the same thing?),” Roque said during a news conference in Malacañang. “Kaya when I told him to shut up, it’s because we don’t need his advice dahil the same advice has been given by government, by the economic team of the President so it’s not as if he has the monopoly of solutions,” he said. Roque also took a swipe at Roxas for mishandling the government’s preparedness and relief efforts during the onslaught of supertyphoon “Yolanda” in 2013. “Pero natatandaan ko talaga noong panahon ng Yolanda, hindi siya nagbigay ng solusyon (I remember during the typhoon Yolanda, he did not give any solution),” he added. Roxas recently offered some unsolicited advice to President Duterte on how to solve the country’s soaring food prices, including the importation of more rice. He said only a massive and immediate additional supply of rice could bring down prices to affordable levels. The former Trade Secretary suggested that the minimum access volume, the amount of rice imports, should be increased to 1.5 million metric tons. He added that fast food chains, shopping malls, supermarket chains, groceries, and other large users should ”independently source and import their own needs” so they would not have to get their share from the national inventory. Meantime, Roque assured the public anew that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was expected to import more cheap rice to boost the country’s supply. The rice importation will reportedly be done through DTI’s attached agency the Philippine International Trading Corporation. “Pagdating po sa bigas, ang mabuting balita, DTI na po ang mag-i-import ng bigas at hindi lamang commercial rice ang i-import nila (The good news about rice is the DTI will import rice, not just commercial rice),” he said. “Kasi ngayon po, wala talaga tayong shortage ng commercial rice, kaya lang ito po iyong mahal na bigas na ini-import ng mga nangangalakal. So, DTI na po ang mag-aangkat at mag-i-import, iyong 25% broken para mabenta at P27 per kilo (Because for now, we don’t have a shortage of commercial rice but this is the expensive variety imported by traders. So the DTI will import 25 percent broken to sell it for P27 per kilo),” he said. He said the entry of the DTI into rice importation virtually breaks the monopoly of NFA on determining when rice should be imported.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque(Jansen Romero/ MANILA BULLETIN) Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the government does not need the help of Roxas, noting that his suggestions were already recommended by the President’s economic team. “Who told him he is the only one who said that. Basahin n’yo naman iyong sinabi niya, hindi ba sinabi na rin iyan ng mga economic team (Read what he said, didn’t the economic team say the same thing?),” Roque said during a news conference in Malacañang. “Kaya when I told him to shut up, it’s because we don’t need his advice dahil the same advice has been given by government, by the economic team of the President so it’s not as if he has the monopoly of solutions,” he said. Roque also took a swipe at Roxas for mishandling the government’s preparedness and relief efforts during the onslaught of supertyphoon “Yolanda” in 2013. “Pero natatandaan ko talaga noong panahon ng Yolanda, hindi siya nagbigay ng solusyon (I remember during the typhoon Yolanda, he did not give any solution),” he added. Roxas recently offered some unsolicited advice to President Duterte on how to solve the country’s soaring food prices, including the importation of more rice. He said only a massive and immediate additional supply of rice could bring down prices to affordable levels. The former Trade Secretary suggested that the minimum access volume, the amount of rice imports, should be increased to 1.5 million metric tons. He added that fast food chains, shopping malls, supermarket chains, groceries, and other large users should ”independently source and import their own needs” so they would not have to get their share from the national inventory. Meantime, Roque assured the public anew that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was expected to import more cheap rice to boost the country’s supply. The rice importation will reportedly be done through DTI’s attached agency the Philippine International Trading Corporation. “Pagdating po sa bigas, ang mabuting balita, DTI na po ang mag-i-import ng bigas at hindi lamang commercial rice ang i-import nila (The good news about rice is the DTI will import rice, not just commercial rice),” he said. “Kasi ngayon po, wala talaga tayong shortage ng commercial rice, kaya lang ito po iyong mahal na bigas na ini-import ng mga nangangalakal. So, DTI na po ang mag-aangkat at mag-i-import, iyong 25% broken para mabenta at P27 per kilo (Because for now, we don’t have a shortage of commercial rice but this is the expensive variety imported by traders. So the DTI will import 25 percent broken to sell it for P27 per kilo),” he said. He said the entry of the DTI into rice importation virtually breaks the monopoly of NFA on determining when rice should be imported.