Sometimes it takes outsiders looking in to tell us that not everything that we do is wrong, that we really ought to indulge in self-flagellation perhaps only during Lent, not year-round.

While perennial critics have gone to town castigating the administration for spending billions in food and other subsidies for the poor, international institutions are, in fact, praising it for doing so.

The World Bank (WB) is unstinting in its support for the Philippine government’s conditional cash transfer or subsidy program for the poor.

WB country director Bert Hofman says the subsidy scheme has helped in addressing poverty in Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American countries. He opines that “it is justifiable because it works very well for development.”

Hofman says the bank is even willing to work with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to expand the scope of the program. It’s the DSWD that’s now implementing several subsidy programs for the poor, such as the distribution and sale of government-subsidized rice in economically depressed communities in close coordination with the National Food Authority, local government units and Church-based humanitarian groups like Caritas Manila.

United Nations World Food Programme new country director and representative to the Philippines Stephen Anderson, likewise, believes the government is taking “correct action” to help address the urgent needs of poor Filipinos amid skyrocketing food and fuel prices.

Anderson observed: “The [Philippine] government is mobilizing [its] resources to address the immediate needs of the people, but it takes time to cover all the needs of the people.”

For his part, Kevin Cleaver, assistant president for program management of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development, said during his recent Manila visit that the domestic rice problem “could be handled pretty easily by the Philippines” in the immediate and long term, given the measures that have been taken so far by the government.

The director general of the International Rice Research Institute based in Los Baños, Laguna, Robert Zeigler, is similarly upbeat about our prospects in surmounting the global food crisis. The Philippines, he said, “relative to a number of countries, adopted technologies quite effectively and used them rather well” so that today, rice production has gone up considerably.

Finally, there’s the recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report that said 36 countries—nine in Asia, two in Europe, 21 in Africa and four in Latin America—now require external assistance to cope with worsening food-supply problems. The FAO said these 36 countries would need assistance because of food insecurity.

But the Philippines is not on this list, which only goes to show that the country has adequate food supply, thanks to timely government intervention.

Sinister hand in GSIS-Meralco tiff

Look no further than the Palace by the Pasig for valuable clues as to why the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) seems to be hell-bent on taking over the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the largest power-distribution utility.

Embattled Appellate Court Justice Jose Sabio Jr. said in his sworn affidavit that on May 30, 2008, he received a phone call from his brother, Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairman Camilo Sabio, who told him he was going to be the third member of the division assigned to handle the GSIS-Meralco case.

Justice Sabio said he was surprised because he was not aware of this at that time. Camilo then tried to convince him to vote in favor of GSIS.

Taking the witness stand for the second time at the resumption of the investigation by a three-man panel of the Supreme Court, Jose Jr. said Camilo, his older brother, had asked him not to issue a temporary restraining order against GSIS in its dispute with Meralco. The power-distribution firm had asked the Court of Appeals to nullify the cease-and-desist order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission to stop the Meralco board election, which GSIS had sought. The case was given to the appellate court’s Ninth Division, temporarily headed by Sabio.

So why would the PCGG chief take an extraordinary interest in the GSIS-Meralco battle, if he wasn’t acting, wittingly or unwittingly, on behalf of higher authority? Your guess is probably as good as mine.

At the Supreme Court hearing, retired Justice Romeo Callejo Sr. asked whether the attempt by Camilo to influence his brother was unethical and whether the PCGG chief should be berated for trying to interfere in the case.

Justice Sabio replied: “No, because he [Camilo] is my older brother and I respect him. I only told him that I will decide accordingly. Besides, there [was] no offer of a bribe.” What transpired between him and his brother, he said, was only a “conversation.”

But Callejo observed that even if there was no offer of a bribe, that was a criminal act under the Revised Penal Code, because it constituted corruption of a public officer. Sabio apologized to the court: “I’m sorry, Your Honor.”

The integrity of the entire Judiciary has been tarnished by this episode. We hope the Supreme Court resolves the case soon enough so that accountability can be established and the judicial system can regain its credibility in the eyes of the public.  

E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com

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