CAUAYAN CITY—Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol on Tuesday said he would help uncover the rice cartel controlling grain production and stabilize the price of palay (unhusked grains). “There are these traders from Bulacan and Binondo who speculate to control prices … We must stop this rice cartel,” Piñol said, adding that this group was also pushing for his ouster. However, my policy is no rice importation, even for corn as even imported wheat floods our local market,” he said. He said farms must develop more livestock projects which would consume rice straw left rotting in fields after harvests. Piñol also said he formed a task force to look into the implementation of new regulations controlling the importation of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 10, 2017 20:15 UTC