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Date Today :
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| PR-BSM-026-2008 |
| 14 April 2008 |
UN (IFAD) OFFICIAL SAYS PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO ON TOP OF SITUATION: RP NOT IN DIRE STRAITS RE RICE SITUATION
"I don't know all the details. And I am not here to defend your
government... but you have a government that is concerned. (From)
the newspapers that you produce everyday, the government is talking
about it. Imagine a government that is not concerned at all..
"She (PGMA) is appropriately concerned. Very concerned on a daily
basis. But I think she... (it is my first time to meet her)... she
is a very, very confident person, very much in charge, knows what
she wants to do. And what she says makes good sense to me..."
enthused Cleaver.
The United Nations official added, thus: "Our conversation was with
somebody (PGMA) who is concerned, knows what she is doing, and she
is doing all the measures that she can."
"I feel fully confident that, in the immediate term, this will be
taken care of by the government," stressed Cleaver who reported that
"the government, the president (PGMA) told me that they have an
immediate program - we are not financing it -- but the program is
the rehabilitation of irrigated, degraded (irrigation) facilities.
This will be the most important thing in providing more rice for the
next year."
Asked if he foresees any food riots occurring in the Philippines like what has been happening in some 33 countries, Cleaver said the present government measures to address the situation "should deal with this situation sufficiently to avoid that..."
Cleaver - who revealed that a food riot happened in Egypt only
yesterday -- explained that "food riots occur when people actually
can't get ... food for their families."
"When you go to bed hungry, you start thinking about rioting, which
is not happening in the Philippines. The government is ensuring that
there's food supply...
"The prices will go up... and people will have hardship... that's
what happens when prices go up. There is nothing that this
government can do about it. Everybody in the entire planet is
suffering from this. Everybody. Not just Filipinos."
"But the Philippines, like every other country in the world, has a
short-term problem. And governments are not magic fairies. They
can't just swing a wand and make the rice appear," said Cleaver.
The UN's agriculture official told Malacanang reporters that
President Arroyo discussed with the visiting UN group the country's
short-term, medium and long-term measures to alleviate the rice
crisis, "that is why I say am very confident that in the immediate
and long-term, this problem could be handled pretty easily by the
Philippines."
"In
the short term, every country in the world is struggling with this.
I understand that the Philippines has created a commission to look
into the problem of rice pricing, rice policy. In the long-term, I
can tell you that you have all the potential in the Philippines to
do this. This is not rocket science, and it will be done."
Cleaver concluded that "the government's policy is very much on
track, and pretty much consistent" with his recommendations, to wit:
"In the medium and long-term investment in irrigation
rehabilitation, investment in infrastructure in rural areas,
investment in rural finance, investment in institution building,
building a local municipal government, local government, farmers
organizations so that the farmers can deal with these problems
themselves. Investment in agricultural processing and
marketing, input supply." -
END -
