The Philippine Rice Crisis

[giddyboy]

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Senators blame Arroyo for rice crisis

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:18pm (Mla time) 03/17/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- From the fertilizer scam to hybrid rice to jatropha, senators are blaming President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the looming rice crisis and for making the Philippines the world's biggest importer of the cereal.

“The rice crisis should be addressed and taken seriously by the government. The root cause is not only external shocks but issues related to high cost of inputs; absence or lack of forward planning; and the shift to corn and jatropha,'' said Senator Francis Escudero in a text message.

Escudero noted that the government's thrust to promote jatropha in support of the biofuels program could have diverted the funds intended for rice development to oil alternatives.

Senate President Manny Villar said that the government has a lot of explaining to do on the rice crisis.

“First, the rice cartel. A lot of people might be taking advantage of the situation. Second, the fertilizer scam where the government did not cooperate in our past investigation. Corruption in areas that directly affect the poor should never be tolerated. If our rice production is low, it is undeniable that fertilizer is one of the reasons,” said Villar in a press conference.

He cautioned the government against taking the rice crisis lightly because it could end up being a “very serious problem.”

Villar said that aside from being ineffective against the rice cartel, the government has likewise been lax in checking the long-standing corrupt practices in the National Food Authority (NFA).

“With the world price of rice spiraling, the government must do its best in handling the crisis because this could be more serious than the national broadband network scandal,” said Villar.

Villar suggested that the government seriously consider suspending the tariffs on rice imports in order to ensure steady supply for the country. “But we have to balance this with the interest of our farmers whose prices will suffer from the inflow of rice imports,” said Villar.

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It has been suggested that we conserve our consumption of rice. Surveys indicate that Filipinos waste a tablespoon of cooked rice every meal. hey, it has even reached to a point where fastfoods were suggested to limit their rice consumption...

is this perhaps the time to now adopt US's eating lifestyle? instead of rice, wheat bread nlng? care for some bourjers? hehe

[cebu-future]

almost tanan naa sa gobyerno. from brgy level to the highest rank

[giddyboy]

almost tanan naa sa gobyerno. from brgy level to the highest rank

how about the farmers? are they not also to be blamed partly? basin nausab na ang ilahang interest. from farming they shifted to other industries as well?

how about kha the conversion of some land from agricultural to agro-industrial? naa kaha ni cya effects pud?

[godsaint]

The government especially the Agriculture department should be blamed not the farmers.poor agrarian programs,lack of support sa farmers thats the main reason why farmers instead of planting rice,they resort to other business which are not their forte.Philippines is one of the biggest spplier of rice in Asia.but we are always importing rice from other countries like Vietnam.How about our rice?Our rice is being kept to rot,Smuggled by crocodiles!

[giddyboy]

our local rice produce cannot compete w/ smuggled rice from Vietnam...i heard rampant pa gihapon ni...ipaagi lang sa back door channel like Cotabato, then to Cebu...

[godsaint]

And these rice are not good quality.Mabugnaw lang gahi na.

[giddyboy]

i already posted this in another thread:

Usa ka rice analyst niingon nga tungod ky kusog na kau kno mukaon ug bahaw ang China ug India, mao nang naapiki ang rice supply sa world...samotan pa gyud kunohay kng ang America mo-shift from burger to rice tungod sa ilang krisis...nyahaha

[eax]

Para nako dili government i-blame I think ang Catholic Church is to blame. Mao na siya ang resulta sa overpupolation.

[godsaint]

OT:Sala ba diay sa simbahan kung ang tawo uwagan?Ang dapat basulon ang gamay nga ulo dili ang simbahan.

[edgeknife]

what a heck.... simbahan involved on rice crises?? i dunno....

for me, kita ra gihapon ma blame.... some people are just wasting rice.... mao nang rice crises... if we want to eradicate the rice crises, the change should start with YOU...