Food security - and not just delicious food at restaurants - is something that I have become passionate about in the past few years. On a personal level, I have sought to contribute in my own small way by participating in the Catholic Church's outreach program entitled Hapag-Asa, which implements a 6-month nutrition program for malnourished kids for only P1,200 - what you would pay for a nice dinner out. But the problem is even bigger, as I learned after listening the presentation of statistics presented every few months by the Pulse Asia team to President Estrada and cabinet (who continue to meet every now and then).
The stats were most alarming in 2008 when the world market crashed and at the same time a "rice crisis" was felt across the region. This was when then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo imported over 2 Million metric tons of rice at over P80 Billion. Current reports show that more than 4 Million Filipino families (note it's families, not individuals) experience hunger today.
The task of the National Food Authority is to ensure the country's food security and the stability of the supply and price of rice.Given this gargantuan task, it makes you wonder why President Aquino would appoint someone who has no background relevant to the task to take it on. The basis of the administration is that Banayo had presented a rice program.If that was the case, then anyone with a blog can become NFA chief. So let's see ... I'd like to head the Tourism Authority, let me submit a ten-pager - and add a few colored graphs to make it impressive. See, now I'm QUALIFIED.
This is worse than the decision to get the only Supreme Court Chief Justice to have an impeachment case filed against him for a Truth Commission. Tens, possibly hundreds of millions, will pass through the hands of this man. Literally, lives of people will be at stake. We need to figure out a way to make our agricultural programs work so that we become an exporter instead of the number one importer of rice. How do you address smuggled rice? How will you address the need to feed those who will be affected by the storms? How will you meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015? Hunger is no joke and the alarming poverty numbers require a sense of urgency. Do we really want someone whose background is POLITICAL to handle this?!
There is no sincerer love than the love of food. - George Bernard Shaw
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