APPARENTLY heeding the call of experts, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are now mapping areas where cheaper and subsidized rice should be sold.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the government wants to make sure that cheaper rice that are subsidized by the government will really reach the poor.

“Within one week, we will be able to come up with a map of areas where subsidized rice should be distributed,” said Yap at the sidelines of a press briefing on the current rice situation in the Philippines.

The press briefing was held after a consultation conducted by the DA with senators and congressmen.

Yap said the DA undertook the initiative with the DSWD, who has a more reliable data on the poor in the country. He said the DA and DSWD will partner with local government units.

Earlier, Arsenio M. Balisacan, director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, said the government should specifically target poor families when selling cheaper rice.

Balisacan said that cheaper National Food Authority (NFA) rice sold at P18.25 per kilogram should not be made available to all.

“The government can still subsidize rice, but it should target the subsidy,” he said.

Balisacan noted that the current practice of the government is to sell cheaper NFA rice in rolling stores and Tindahan Natin outlets, making cheap rice effectively available to all.

EUROPEAN businessmen in the country are now actively helping local outsourcing and offshoring (O&O) firms land more contracts in Europe, as they believe the industry’s target of achieving a 10-percent share in global outsourcing revenues by 2010 will not be possible if the focus will remain solely in the US market.

DAVAO CITY—From stopping all further conversion of agriculture lands to monitoring the expenditures of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the pork barrel of Congress representatives, a nongovernment group said the Arroyo administration must implement drastic policy measures to tide itself over  the rice crisis and preserve its hold on power.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has formally asked the Department of Finance (DOF) to remove tariffs on agricultural inputs to help farmers cope with the spiraling cost of inputs such as fertilizer.

THE auto industry posted a 10.3-percent sales growth in the first quarter of the year as the market continues to remain strong despite rising fuel and food prices that may affect the decision to buy vehicles.

THE World Bank (WB) is willing to extend financial support of as much as $850 million to $900 million to the Philippines every year, starting the bank’s 2008 fiscal year.

SEVERAL agreements for the sale of National Transmission Corp.’s (Transco)sub-transmission assets to (STAs) five electric cooperatives have finally been approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) after a long delay.

APPARENTLY heeding the call of experts, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are now mapping areas where cheaper and subsidized rice should be sold.

ACCORDING to the National Statistical Coordination Board, a Filipino family of five needs a monthly income of P6,274 to stay out of poverty—that’s P206 daily or P75,288 annually. For Metro Manila, where the cost of living is higher, a family of five needs P282 a day or P102,830 a year to keep out poverty.