HAD President Arroyo followed the propoor programs of former President Joseph Estrada, the country would not experience a rice crisis, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito said Wednesday.

Ejercito said that during the watch of his father, the former President, the government prioritized farmers and the agricultural sector.

“This [rice shortage] is due to the continuing misgovernance of President Arroyo. Had the administration given priority to the agricultural sector, this crisis would not have happened. This is another vindication for President Estrada who prioritized the agricultural sector during his incumbency. He wanted the people to have cheap food on their tables,” he said.

Ejercito said that instead of concentrating on the agricultural sector, the Arroyo administration allowed the importation and alleged smuggling of agricultural products which caused the further deterioration of the agricultural industry.

“The smugglers of rice and sugar are allegedly close to the present occupants of the Palace. They killed the agricultural sector,” he said.

Ejercito added that Arroyo does not know how it is to be hungry, having been born rich.

“The problem with GMA is that she does not know how it is to be hungry. She has lived a life of royalty.

This is why she is not sensitive to the needs of the people,” he said.

Marikina Mayor Marides Fernando, meanwhile, said that people should not panic over reports of a looming rice shortage.

“I think we should keep our head and not panic. I just talked to our suppliers who assured us of availability,” she added.

Fernando said she established five more nutripan bakeries for public schools in Marikina to help supply pan de sal to the children and their families so they will not go to school with an empty stomach.

Retailers earlier warned the public against household hoarding of rice amid the skyrocketing of prices owing to lack of supply.

Teresa Alegado, president of the Confederation of Grain Retailers Association, said the sight of long lines of buyers of National Food Authority (NFA) rice and the high prices of commercial grains could lead to household hoarding.

Household hoarding or “panic buying” means excessive stocking of rice by consumers.

Alegado said this could cause an artificial shortage that would push prices higher.

“Businessmen who hoard commodities unload their goods when the price they want is reached. But when it’s the consumers who hoard, the stocks are not returned to the market,” Alegado said.

She said this is the reason her group opposes the handing over of the distribution of NFA rice to local governments and the Roman Catholic Church.

Alegado said local governments and the Church have no expertise in rice distribution.

This could lead to longer lines and household hoarding, she said.

Alegado blamed the excessive profits taken by rice traders for the high prices.

Meanwhile, economist Luz Lorenzo said the drastic increase in the price of rice is a worldwide phenomenon.

She said among the reasons for the escalating prices are the damage  sustained by rice fields in Vietnam, one of the leading grain exporters; rapid industrialization of agricultural lands; and the switch from rice to palm oil plantation, owing to the increased demand for biofuel.

Despite the current situation Lorenzo is convinced there would be enough supply of rice since Vietnam, and Thailand, harvest rice three times a year, boosting import sources.

Vietnamese vessels ‘monitored in Spratlys but no violation committed’

THE Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Wednesday disclosed that it had monitored two cargo and eight naval vessels with Vietnamese markings in the Spratlys in January and March, but admitted that the foreign ships did not violate the Code of Conduct prevailing in the area.

IN an effort to resolve the impasse on the country’s baselines issue, Speaker Prospero Nograles will meet with members of the House foreign affairs committee and the heads of the parties composing the majority coalition hoping to come out with a formula on how to best resolve conflicting positions among the three branches of government.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A military official disclosed that the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines has changed its strategy to boost the number of its fighters and mass-based supporters.

THE Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) condemned on Wednesday the arrest of 13 farmers and advocacy- group leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, while they were observing protest actions both at the presidential palace and at the Ministry of Agriculture.

THE World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged governments to prioritize the effects of global warming in their health agenda as it warned that climate change may reverse whatever gains were achieved in fighting diseases due to poverty.

THE possibility of a presidential pardon for the nine military officers who were convicted on a coup case by the Regional Trial Court in Makati Tuesday is not remote especially if Malacañang considers the admission of their wrongdoing, the Armed Forces chief of staff said Wednesday.

HAD President Arroyo followed the propoor programs of former President Joseph Estrada, the country would not experience a rice crisis, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito said Wednesday.

Malacañang is resorting to another diversionary scheme to distract public attention from the increasing list of uncovered administration anomalies with President Arroyo herself insisting on Wednesday that “Senate investigations would not bring rice to the table” of hungry Filipinos.