MANILA — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. believes running out of confiscated smuggled rice will be a “great situation.”
He said it signifies there are no more hoarders and smugglers.
Marcos made the statement during an ambush interview in Surigao del Norte.
He distributed smuggled rice to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries in Siargao Island and Dinagat Islands.
“It will be a great situation if we run out of smuggled rice because it means there is not as much smuggling, not as much hoarding,” said the Chief Executive.
“The prices will be under control, so that is the best way to maintain it. That is the long term. That is the long term aspiration of all of this,” he noted.
While in Siargao Island, Marcos distributed 2,265 sacks of rice to 4Ps beneficiaries.
“On the one hand, what we are doing is improving the production of rice,” he said.
“Not just rice but corn. Also vegetables. Also, high-value crops,” he enumerated.
“All of that to strengthen our… what we call… our food supply to our countrymen,” he said.
While in the Dinagat Islands, over 1,000 4Ps beneficiaries received a sack of rice each.
Marcos told the residents that they would have a steady food supply.
He also said the government will tend to their farming needs.
“We will continue to establish storage and infrastructure in transportation so that there can be a faster and more systematic flow of supply and services in all corners of the country, including the Dinagat Islands,” said the President.
The rice was distributed as part of the P42 million worth of haul previously confiscated by the Bureau of Customs in Zamboanga. (Jean Mangaluz © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
