MANILA: The leading ticket in opinion polls for the Philippines' presidency will immediately stop rice imports and boost the local farm sector if voted in at the May elections, vice-presidential candidate Manuel Roxas said on Monday.

The Philippines is the world's biggest rice buyer, importing around 10 percent of its annual needs.

Its 2010 imports already stand at a record 2.45 million tonnes, including 200,000 tonnes to be brought in by private firms.

"It's important that we Filipinos feed ourselves, that we become self-sufficient. Under an Aquino-Roxas administration, we will immediately stop importing rice," Senator Roxas said in a statement.

Roxas is the running mate of opposition Senator Benigno'Noynoy' Aquino. Both lead surveys of independent pollsters ahead of the May 10 national elections.

In the Philippines, the president and vice-president are elected separately by voters, so candidates from two different parties can be elected to the posts.

Roxas, a former Wall Street banker and the grandson of a former president, said funds for rice imports should be directed towards more credit facilities for farmers to improve output and to boost farm irrigation systems.

The Philippines has been targeting self-sufficiency in its staple food by 2013, but its rice harvest shrunk more than 3 percent last year due to typhoon damage.

It was the first drop in rice output since 1998, prompting Manila to advance 2010 imports.

This year, drier-than-usual weather due to El Nino has parched many Philippine farmlands, raising the possibility of more rice imports.