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Malacañang said giving President Gloria Arroyo
emergency power to address the rice crisis is not necessary.
“I am sure that the lawmakers
are well meaning but such [a] grant is hardly necessary in dealing
with this logistical problem,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said
in a statement.
Bunye was reacting to the
resolution filed by Rep. Thomas Dumpit Jr. of La Union, urging
Congress to grant President Arroyo emergency powers to
“immediately and effectively address the rice crisis in the
country in the most efficient and judicious manner.”
“The urgency of the situation
compels drastic measures on the part of the government in order to
address pressing need on the rice crisis, whereby mitigating, if not
eliminating, the colossal effects of the crisis,” Dumpit said.
But Bunye said the Philippines is
“much better position than countries where problems [related to
rice] have been reported.”
“A better distribution network,
with the support of the religious groups and local government
executives, will considerably ease the situation,” he said.
At the House of Representatives,
lawmakers crossed party lines on the issue.
Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr. on
Friday said that President Arroyo does not need any emergency powers
in the light of grim prospects from a food crisis, because the
President has enough executive powers to cope with the situation.
Nograles also appealed to the
“rabble-rousers” to stop sowing intrigues and imputing malice on
the signing of the Executive Order 728 creating the National Food
and Energy Council.
Sen. Pia Cayetano on Friday
vehemently opposed plans to grant emergency powers to President
Arroyo to grapple with the country’s food and oil crisis.
“First of all, it is Congress
that may, by law, authorize the President, subject to such
restrictions Congress may prescribe, to exercise powers necessary
and proper to carry out a declared national policy. The President
alone cannot make such a declaration,” Cayetano stressed.
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