“That was never part of the commitment.”“Flooding the market with imported rice favors traders and local importers. Why buy from local farmers when you can generate huge profit from trading imported rice?” he added. He said the President was well aware, even before 2019, of his objections to the policies that has caused great grief not only to rice farmers, but also to hog raisers, corn farmers, coconut planters and marginalized fisherfolk. ‘No plan’In deference to his longtime friendship with the president, Piñol said he took the job of Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chair and even served as national executive committee member of the PDP-Laban. Piñol said he had no ill feelings against Duterte, but he lamented that the chief executive was misled by his economic managers into agreeing to “neoliberal policies” that proved bad for the agricultural sector.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 06, 2021 21:45 UTC