Duterte warns rice cartels: Stop messing with people
In his third State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Rodrigo Duterte warned rice cartels that create artificial shortage on the country’s top staple.
Duterte said this serves as warning to those who sabotage the economy as he directed concerned agencies to hunt the culprits and bring them to justice.
“Stop messing with the people. I hate to. Power sometimes is not a good thing. I hope I will not use it against use. Consider this as warning,” he said.
The shortage and the high price of rice was one of the issues that hounded the Duterte administration in the last two years.
Duterte called on the Congress to pass legislation that will improve the country’s importation of rice.
“We are working on long-term solutions to lower the price of rice. We need to switch to a tariff system of importing rice,” he said.
“Business is really for profit, I understand that. The Philippines is really a playground of scoundrel. It’s all conscience,” he added. /je
