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MANILA - (UPDATED) President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said the proposal of one of his Cabinet secretaries to "legalize" rice smuggling in the Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi provinces would be destructive to the economy.

In a speech before leaving for Israel and Jordan, Duterte said it would be better to just import rice than to legalize the smuggling of rice, as suggested by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.

"[Legalize] smuggling itself? No. That would be destructive to the economy... Mag-import tayo tapos magpalugi na lang. At least may benchmark tayo kung magkano ang maubos," he said.

Piñol had earlier proposed turning the "smugglers" in the region into legitimate importers amid a rice crisis in the area.

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He insisted that this was the only way to curb the smuggling of rice in the south.

The Agriculture chief was hit for the proposal, with some sectors calling for his resignation. But when asked about this, Duterte said he saw no reason to fire Piñol.

"I don't see any serious offense there. We have not really lost anything except that there’s an aberration in the market," the President said.

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Piñol, meanwhile, blamed the reporter who asked Duterte the question for supposedly not properly putting his proposal into context. The Agriculture chief said he will submit a memorandum to Duterte when he comes back.

"I am saddened that the idea of setting up a Rice Trading Center in Tawi-tawi to put an end to rice smuggling and raise revenues estimated at between P1 billion to P2 billion... was not presented by a reporter in the proper context," he said in a statement Sunday.

"It was presented in a manner that it would appear that I am proposing the entry of smuggled rice. I will submit a memorandum to the President on this matter when he comes back," added Piñol who also thanked Duterte for his continued trust in him.

Meanwhile, Duterte also warned that he would raid the warehouses of rice traders if he discovers that "there is an artificial scheme" causing the crisis in the south.

"If there's an artificial scheme going around, I will not hesitate to exercise the powers of the president. I will ask the military and the police to raid your warehouses," he said.

Duterte left for a visit to Israel and Jordan, seeking to reaffirm relations with both countries and eyeing deals on defense and security.