LOREN CALLS FOR NATIONAL FOOD PRODUCTION CAMPAIGN

Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday called upon the national government to conduct a full-fledged national food production campaign with the help of the local government units in the face of a global food shortage.

Loren reacted with alarm to reports that there could be a chain-reaction of soaring prices for all basic food commodities like bread, meat, poultry and vegetables because of a global food shortage, exemplified by the crisis in rice supplies.

Loren, who is the chairman of the Senate economic affairs committee, said that "we cannot abandon more than 80 million Filipinos to the prospect of virtual starvation through inaction. Our government leaders should take positive measures to respond to what is clearly an emergency situation."

"This is a situation where we cannot afford a failure of leadership," Loren declared.

Senator Legarda called upon governors, mayors, municipal councilors and barangay officials to encourage families to cultivate family plots for root crops and vegetables and raise poultry, swine or even cattle in order to supplement their food resources.

She also asked the Department of Education to revive the program of requiring elementary school pupils and high school students to cultivate garden plots in the schoolyard and learn poultry raising and animal husbandry. "This will provide them with the skills to engage in profitable food production in their adult years."

Loren decried that even under normal times Filipinos have suffered from a deficiency in food intake. The 2000 Family Income and Expenditures Survey in the Philippines found that between 1997 and 2000 the poverty level actually rose to 33.7 percent, Loren said.

A report added that more than 20 percent of the population (or over 15 million people) are considered undernourished, and close to a third of Filipino children under five are moderately or severely underweight. These statistics are thought to be much worse in rural areas of the Philippines.

Loren said that the food shortage should be a "wake-up" call for government to reexamine its priorities in food production, particularly agriculture. "Should we persist in the national policy of export orientation and import dependence, or should we strive for self-sufficiency in food production?" she asked.

"Obviously we should give priority to food self-sufficiency, for an undernourished individual cannot contribute positively to national growth. If we must attain a strong Republic we must have a population with well-nourished and strong bodies that harbor intelligent, creative and independent minds," she asserted.

She added that the Philippines would be more economically progressive if it becomes self-sufficient in food production and is even able to export food to less endowed countries. "The claim that our country can never be self-sufficient in rice or other foods is defeatist. We have a sufficient number of lands that can be devoted to food production, and we have the industry, skills and native dedication to achieve self-sufficiency in food needs," she stressed.