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Press
Statement
October 16, 2008
RAMDAM NA RAMDAM ANG KAGUTUMAN AT KAHIRAPAN: ISULONG ANG
KATIYAKAN SA PAGKAIN AT LIKAS-KAYANG KAUNLARAN
Philippine NGO Coalition for Food Security & Fair Trade
(PNLC)
“Ramdam
ang Kaularan” is the slogan that has been repeatedly
proclaimed by the government to Filipinos. But the
reality says otherwise. The number of individuals and
families living below the poverty and subsistence
thresholds has gone up since President Arroyo assumed
power in 2001. From 33% (25.47 million individuals) of
the population in 2000, the number of poor persons was
32.9% by 2006. But the absolute number of the poor
increased to 27.61 million. The number of food-poor
individuals (those below the subsistence level) has
basically remained the same: from 12.2 million in 2000
to 12.22 million individuals in 2006. The 2006 Food
Insecure and Vulnerable Areas in the Philippines
research noted that there are 49 provinces or 63.8 %
with food insecurity in varying degrees. Is this “kaunlaran”?
Given this data, the Arroyo government program on food
security and poverty reduction is a failure.
While there was economic growth under the Arroyo
government, it has not been pro-poor growth. Former NEDA
Director-General Cielito Habito calls it “puro-poor
growth. Asset reforms have not been seriously
implemented even if there are laws such as the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, Indigenous People’s
Rights Act and New Fisheries Code of 1998 More than a
million private agricultural lands owned by influential
families remain undistributed to landless tenants and
farmworkers. Small fisherfolks cannot compete with
commercial fishing boats which are operating in
municipal waters. With JPEPA’s approval, Japanese
trawlers would be fishing in Philippine waters more
freely. The existing access of indigenous peoples to
their ancestral lands is threatened by the aggressive
promotion of mining by the government.
Pro-poor growth has not also been realized because
public funds are not wisely spent on economic and social
services. Debt payments and the military have been the
focus of the Arroyo administration. In the 2008 budget
the funds for Agrarian Reform is P2.22 billion or
0.28%.; Agriculture, P3.32 billion or 0.43%.; the
Military received P50.91 billion or 6.61 %; and debt
service interest payments amount to P295.75 billion or
38.37%.
Aside from not allocating an adequate amount for
economic and social services, the public funds is lost
due to the never-ending corrupt practices of the current
dispensation. The Department of Agriculture is the
favorite milking cow. From the infamous fertilizer scam,
other corruption cases were exposed such as the P5
billion swine scam, the P3.1 billion irrigation scam,
the funding of dubious NGOs to implement the Ginintuan
Masaganang Ani program and the Gulayan para sa Masa
scam.
Making matters worse for the hungry, poor and unemployed
Filipinos is the trade liberalization policies of the
regime. The Philippines has turned from a net
agricultural exporter to importer by the mid-1990s. The
recent rice crisis and the massive rice importation
illustrate our dependency on imports to feed our nation.
In the context of the global economic slowdown
especially in developed countries, the Philippine NGO
Coalition for Food Security & Fair Trade (PNLC) is
strongly urging the government to:
ü
junk
its present defective and corrupt economic framework
ü
sufficient funds for public works in the rural areas,
ü
provide employment and income to the people
ü
Transparency on the Food or cash transfer programs
ü
Extend and reform the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program
ü
Promote and support the sustainable agriculture.
ü
Provide support services for the marginalized sectors
(farmers, fisherfolks and Indigenous
peoples)
ü Strict implementation of the 15 kilometer municipal
waters zone as provided for in the Fisheries Code,
ü
Protect Indigenous peoples’ right to ancestral lands
ü
Protection of food producing resources.
ü
Encourage Local economies and developed with appropriate
funds, technology, marketing assistance and human
resource development
WFD 2008 Photos

 
  
 
 
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