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Less rice imports and bigger domestic production of
the staple will be inevitable for the Philippines if the rice crisis
continues. They will also mean limiting the role of the National
Food Authority (NFA) as guardian of the granary.
President Gloria Arroyo revealed
the country’s two options during an exclusive interview with The
Asian Wall Street Journal on Monday.
She said that if the situation in
the world market does not improve in the second half of the year,
the Philippine government must rethink its food policy from one that
is import-dependent for its rice needs to one that is
self-sufficient in the staple.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye,
also during an interview, confirmed the possible diminished role for
the National Food Authority.
“If we decide to have more
local production, then we must reduce our importation, and the role
of the NFA will be minimized,” Bunye said.
He added that the President,
during the Journal interview, called the rice crisis as a global
wake-up call that will see Mrs. Arroyo working with other
governments in Asia.
To increase production of palay (unhusked
rice) over the next two years and ensure the country’s
self-sufficiency in the staple beyond 2010, past and present
officials of the Department of Agriculture, along with scientists
and other farm experts, are putting the finishing touches on a rice
self-sufficiency master plan.
Fake access cards
The Department of Social Welfare
and Development also on Monday warned the public on fake family rice
access cards that might go around depressed areas.
Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza
Cabral told the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel media forum they will
distribute the rice access cards only after local governments submit
their lists of poor families entitled to the government’s rice
subsidy program.
“People must know that we are
not yet giving out these access cards so that we could prevent
others from making money out of [them],” Cabral said.
She announced that the program
will be started soonest in cities and towns where lists of
beneficiaries have been validated.
The deadline for submission of
the lists was Friday last week.
The rice access cards are similar
to the senior citizens’ cards in that every transaction will be
logged before the poorest families can gain access to cheap
government rice sold at P18.25 per kilo.
Bar codes would be placed on the
access cards to prove authenticity. “Wrong barcode means one does
not have any access to the NFA rice,” Cabral said.
UN battle plan
In Switzerland on Monday, the
United Nations began hammering out a battle plan of emergency
measures at a two-day conference in Bern, while exploring other
longer-term measures to solve the global food crisis.
The meeting will see advocates of
protectionism face off against those who favor opening up markets,
as well as arguments between both supporters and opponents of
biofuels.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
has started talks with key development agencies on how to tackle the
crisis provoked by soaring food and fuel prices.
“This is an exciting time for
the United Nations, but it is also a time when we are challenged to
exert our best efforts to rise to the expectations that the world is
placing on us,” Ban said ahead of meetings in the Swiss capital.
Rising populations, strong demand
from developing countries, increased cultivation of crops for
biofuels, and increasing floods and droughts have sent food prices
soaring across the globe.
Ban met first with officials from
the Universal Postal Union before going in to the main talks with 27
key UN agencies.
Also in Bern were Josette Sheeran,
executive director of the UN’s World Food Program; World Bank
President Robert Zoellick; Jacques Diouf, head of the Food and
Agriculture Organization; and Lennart Bage, president of the
International Fund for Agriculture Development.
Ban was expected to issue a statement
and hold a press conference today.
 --Angelo
S. Samonte, Ira Karen Apanay,
Ruben D. Manahan 4th And AFP
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