Press Release
December 8, 2008

ROXAS TO GOV'T: BRING FOOD TO EVERY PINOY'S TABLE

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today called on President Arroyo and her allies in Congress to concentrate on bringing food to the tables of Filipino families rather than on moves to amend the Constitution and extend the term of incumbents.

"Lalong lumalala ang kahirapan ng ating mga Kababayan. Dumarami ang mga nagugutom, ang mga pamilyang walang makain sa kanilang mga hapag kainan. Ito ang dapat na pagtuunan ng pansin ng ating pamahalaan kesa iyang Cha-Cha na iyan. (Poverty among our countrymen is becoming worse. The number of hungry families is growing higher. The administration should focus on solving these problems instead of pushing for Cha-Cha)," he said.

He appealed to Malacañang and to members of Congress to address the problem by ensuring food security through a strengthened agriculture sector.

He said government could put into place a fertilizer and farm inputs support program for the country's farmers, implement a rehabilitation program of irrigation systems nationwide and create post-harvest facilities, among others.

"Hindi na pwede ang business as usual na ugali ng ating gobyerno. Hindi na tayo maaaring magbingi-bingihan at mag-bulag-bulagan sa tunay na sitwasyon ng ating bansa. Kailangang kumilos ang pamahalaan ngayon na upang matugunan ang lumalalang kagutuman sa buong bansa. (It cannot be business as usual for our government. It should stop turning a blind eye and a deaf ear on the country's real situation. The time for the government to act is now)," he added.

Social Weather Stations' recent survey shows 38% or about 6.9 million of Filipino families consider themselves as food-poor, 37% put themselves on the food-borderline and 25% consider themselves as not food-poor. The latest Self-Rated Food Poverty is 11 points down from 49% (est. 8.8 million) in June 2008, or just 4 points above the all-time low of 34% (est. 6.1 million) in December 2007. It also shows that 52% or about 9.4 million of Filipino families consider themselves poor.

The Ilonggo senator vowed to push for the approval of his proposed P100 billion realignments in the 2009 national budget, which would prioritize food security, particularly rice self-sufficiency; job security of the people; and education and health care for all.

Of the proposed realignment, P10 billion would be allotted for agriculture support, that will be directed in providing fertilizer support and rehabilitation.

"Pangungunahan ko sa Senado ang paniniguro na magkakaroon ng sapat na pagkain ang ating mga Kababayan sa kanilang hapag-kainan. Itutulak natin ang mas malakas na suporta sa ating mga magsasaka para sa kasiguruhan ng sapat na supply ng bigas nang sa gayon ay hindi na tayo kailangang mag-angkat pa. (I will spearhead moves in the Senate to ensure that there will be sufficient food in the Filipino families' tables. I will push for government support for our farmers so we will have ample rice supply and there will be no need for us to import rice)," he said.

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