panulatang sinipi at hindi | |
 | tagged | Jul 1, '08 3:30 AM
for everyone |
TAGGED BY via :) next tym na ang sagot...:)
Rule #1: There are no rules when it comes to freedom of speech. The more frank, the better.
Rule #2: Each blogger must repost this entire entry with the names of the people he/she is tagging, attached at the end of this pop quiz.
Rule #3: The blogger must visit the page of each person who he/she has tagged and must give a link directing the person to his/her pop quiz.
Part 1: Complete the sentence
1. My favorite subjects are cmc and non-cmc electives and a ge. Theatre 131, BC 133, and MP 10
2. If I were a teacher, I'd teach :)
3. The subject that I don't get is calculus
4. Of all my accomplishments, I am proudest of --- i dont know.
5. Five years from now, I would like to receive a
6. If I could live another life, I'd still be... myself
7. I was once mistaken for a lesbian goody goody
8. The best thing(s) I ever got for free were love of my churchmates
9. My favorite shows are cooking shows.
10. One night I want to last forever is the day (ok, night) I met my Lord.
Part 2: Complete the equation
jodi + 'future husband'= something only He knows
jodi + carba = a perfect meal
jodi+ sweets = a delightful treat
jodi + WONDERFUL = me
jodi + high school friends = reliever
Part 3: Enumeration
Places you'd like to go on for vacation:
Japan. Italy.
Gifts you'd like to receive:
1. letter
2. song
3. poem 4.painting.portrait ko--the best "material" gift ever
5.book
Food you would wanna eat forever:
1. chocolate 2. pasta
3. Italian food 4. desserts!
Things you'll do when you aced all your grades:
1.praise my God
2.love my God
The people who you are tagging: 1. to follow
answers to tag questions...
1. If you were betrayed by someone, what would you say to that person? --->won't bother until I catch him myself. won't say anything. Bahala siya.
2. If the person tagging you loves you, what will you do/say?
---> i'll thank him/her.:D
3. What's your take on the same-sex marriages?
---> i don't agree.
4. Are you confused as to what lies ahead of you?
--> no. 5. What is your ideal date like? ---> roadtrip to anywhere... to Tagaytay (haha) pero pwd dn fancy dinner and movie afterwards.
6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone else?
--> loving someone. preferable ang latter cause everyone nmn wants to be loved db? safer un. pero the former's harder. so i go for that.
7. If the person you like doesn't accept you, would you continue to wait for them to change their feelings?
---> no. at bakit maghihintay? haha...ang harsh naman ng "doesnt accept you." if i like someone, e di i like him. i guess it doesn't have to be mutual naman.
8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
---> wala. ok lang yun. haha.
9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently? ---> none. 10. What do you want most in life? ---> peace. i want people to be saved and be led back to Him:D... to be rich enough so i can help others. "you cannot give what you don't have" so i want to have that "thing."
11. Is being tagged fun?
--->yes.
12. If you find out that your best friend is going out with your Bf/Gf, how would you react?
---> i'll ask them... then if it's reasonable to be angry, I'll show them I'm angry.
13. Who is currently the most important person to you? ---> parents.
14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
---> a really nice person.
15. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?
--->it depends. bkt di kasama ang love as criteria? marriageability depends on love not on money... alone (haha).
16. If the person you secretly like doesn't recognize you, what would you do/how will you react?
---> wala lng. being secretly in love is safe. i'll then react if he know(s) what I feel...but i'll make him my friend...
17. Would you give your all in a relationship?
---> no.
18. If you fall in love with 2 persons simultaneously, who would you pick?
---->yes. "you can't serve two masters at the same time" or else you'll both lose them
19. What type of friends do you like?
----> peace lover. totoo. tao. not user friendly:)
20. If you played a prank on someone, and s/he fell for the trick, what would you do?
---> i tell her agad na it was just a trick.. cause mas magalit siya if she'll realize it later pa.
Hi! If you know children with cleft lip (no age limit) or palate (till 12 y/o), send them to SOFITEL HOTEL to pre-register for a free surgery. Contact CAROL TAMPUS at 551-5555 at HRD for pre-screening on May 22, 2008. Free surgery is sponsored by CARITAS and OPERATION SMILE. Actual operation is on May 28-30, 2008. Kindly inform others. Thank you.
Maynard Joseph | Dec 6 2007 reposted from stolenchildhood.net 200,000 Filipino children victims of human rights violation: UNICEF Based on the recent statistics of Children?s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) report from 2001 to 2006, more than 200,000 Filipino children suffered from various exploitation acts and human rights injustices. The data have been compiled in the commissioned book titled, ?Uncounted Lives: Children, Women and Conflict in the Philippines? by the United Nations Children?s Fund (Unicef). This is a reality that may also happen in other parts of the world, especially in the Third World countries and poorest of the poor nations. The CRC works as a non-government institution that focuses on Filipino children and families who were victimized by a number of threats and state violence in the country. It provides social services and assistance on children living in the rural and urban areas who have been inflicted with physical defects or health diseases, identifying emotional problems, and social needs. It is one of the many organizations that help victims of arrest, physical torture, homelessness, war and conflict, bombing, killings, disappearance, and other a number of violations to human life. The CRC reported that out of the 800 incidents of human rights violations in the Philippines recorded, 215,233 Filipino children were confirmed human rights victims from 2001 to 2006. Among these cases 58 children were murdered, 40 were maimed and 17 were tortured severely with other instances of humiliation. The other 215,060 children were evacuees from their homes in the counter-insurgency operations in Mindanao, southern part of the Philippines. With these cases, these violations are an indication of social injustices that may also be happening in other parts of the world. Institutions like UNICEF, United Nations and other non-government organizations will truly be helpful for the children to recover from their dark past. Source:Philstar
Study says no single solution to 'gangster' children problem Balbhadra Rana | Dec 15 2007= reposted from stolenchildhood.net A recent report by COAV [Children and youth in Organized Armed Violence] project says there is no one solution to the problem of city children taking to guns and joining gangs. The study was conducted in a number of countries around the world. It finds marked similarities between child soldiers and city gangs? kids. In both the case they [the child] are guided into violence and misused by adults. As far as the city child gangsters are concerned they are controlled by criminals, often drug peddlers. The question springs to mind: Why do children join such armed gangs and take to violence? The answer is simple- poverty. Youth take to gangs because they feel insecure in the present situations. Their families are poor. According to the COAV study, policing alone will not make this problem go away. Harsh repressive measures might be effective and advisable against hardened criminals but such an approach will only push the gangster child deeper into the world of crime. The emphasis should be instead on a number of productive actions. First of all policemen should cultivate good relations with the communities they are supposed to protect. If the local cop is looked up to, then the criminal elements will not be able to attract local kids. A corrupt and brutal policeman will make the youth feel that the local gangster is better. Stress should also be on finding jobs in the areas, so that growing children are not forced to join gangs for survival. In nine out the ten countries surveyed it was found that the drug trade was the chief recruiter for child ‘gangsters’. Drug policies will have to be reformed. Killing drug lords only increases the atmosphere of violence. Curbing the drug trade only pushes up drug prices attracting more child gangs.
After women, Al Qaeda now uses children in Iraq reposted from stolenchildhood.net A new chapter has been opened by Al Qaeda in Iraq; which is to use children to further its aims. The US military released video footage of a tape it claims it stumbled across during a raid last December. The tape showed children as young as 10, wearing trademark masks receiving training. Though there is no certainty of the authenticity of the tape, one tends to believe in the US military. Some cynics might argue that all this is the handiwork of the dirty-tricks department of the CIA, but one would not go so far as to agree with it. The use of children by Al Qaeda is disturbing news. It is doing so for the same reason as they are using women suicide bombers. To increase troubles for Iraqi and US security forces, as women and children are largely ignored during security checks.
Training children serves another purpose. When Laden’s brand of radical Islam is drilled into young minds at an early age, one gets a ready supply of brainwashed, unquestioning suicide bombers in the future. In effect, Al Qaeda is poisoning the minds of the next generation Iraqis. If this happens on a large scale, it would be disastrous for the future of the country. Al Qaeda has repeatedly shown that it follows no laws of ethics. It has used women as female bombers, though Islam forbids use of women in fighting. It also shows the desperation of the outfit. But such tactics will only alienate it further from the ordinary people of Iraq. Source: Daily Mail
Poll: 100,000 Israeli children victims of sexual abuse reposted from stolenchildhood.net The recent poll of some 100,000 Israeli children being victimized and sexually abused is very alarming. It seems most parents in Jerusalem cannot protect their children from harm. If they can’t do it, who will? Parents should be held responsible about the welfare of their children. Based on the polls, only a fraction of about 2.5 percent of 100,000 abused children cases in Israel was reported to the police. Such percentage was too small to consider the issue as a national concern if we would only rely on statistics. Some may even think of them as isolated cases. Such findings were presented at the National Council for the Child conference in Be’er Sheva, where around 500 parents joined the polls. In addition, the poll showed that only 5 percent of the parents alerted the authorities that their kids were sexually harassed. A quarter of the parents had never told their children to avoid entertaining strangers. Yuli Tamir, Education Minister, presented the data from the Central Bureau Statistics. He said for the last three years, there has been a decreasing dropout of 25 percent in high school. Last year, there were about 22,000 or 4 percent of the population of Israeli children who stopped studying. But Tamir said the Education Ministry is currently adopting a program to augment the declining dropout rates.
In relation to this, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, urged the participants to help alleviate the conditions of the children residing in Sderot and other communities bordering Gaza. Reports claimed that many of the children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from poor amenities like reduced electricity supply and other basic assistance. Beinisch addressed the growing juvenile delinquency in the area and the possible results of this occurrence. He said adequate resources must be supplied for the Israeli’s survival in the Strip. The chief justice added the poor state of the people in Gaza, particularly the children, resulted in a society that is ill-protected from sufferings and harm. Children can never be provided with sufficient resources if there are severe shortages of the basic needs. Few parole officers, who would safeguard them, and less treatments necessary for juvenile delinquents are the main problems. He emphasized that as things continue to get worse, such cases of abuse can only be remedied when resources are provided to protect the children. Source: Haaretz.com
Aboriginal children used as experimental specimens for testing leprosy serum reposted from stolenchildhood.net A member of the Stolen Generations says that Australian Aboriginal children have been used as experimental specimens for testing the effects of new medicines. The tests proved to be life threatening for the meek Aborigines who feel shameful even speaking about it. If this incident were true, it is not the victimized Aborigines who should be shameful about the entire incident, but all those so-called ‘highly educated people’ who are using them for experimental purposes. It is understood that they are conducting these experiments on a sample population to benefit a larger population with the invented medications. But is it right to sacrifice innocent lives for the benefit of others? Nowadays, with the advancement in simulation technology, it is possible to predict the outcomes of a particular drug without actually trying the drugs out on any life form. It is pathetic to acknowledge that not only human beings but also animals are being ruthlessly used for experimental purposes. In this case it might be a leprosy serum, but even for testing some products like cosmetics, animals are being targeted. In some countries, stringent human and animal rights laws have been formulated to protect against experimental abuse. These laws are to be incorporated into the legal framework of even the remotest civilizations of the world. It is the responsibility of each and every citizen to raise his/her voice against any violation of these laws. Nobody has the right to play with the life of another. via: ABC News
 Children of Gaza, playing war games with butchered innocence In some countries children use guns for fun-shootings. If a few classmates die, one can even get famous. In other countries children wielding guns are so common that when Times Online reports that, hardly anyone cares to mention any names. If you are born in the wrong side of the globe then even if you shoot your whole city down, no one will bat an eyelid. So clich鳠justify the violent games that kids are playing in the Gaza strip. Only these children do not need the television to learn guerrilla warfare. Everything is happening right in front of their eyes. And unlike the sociopaths in the West, who kill for pleasure, these kids may have to kill someday for necessity. They may have to defend their communities in the future against US and Zionist aggression. They are playing ?raid-the-houses?, ?torture-the-prisoner? and ?curfew? games. The innocent world of the child has been stained by the dark stain of human blood. Palestinian kids are being forced to grow up before their time. Each child who is born brings us the message that God has not yet tired of humans. Children are the only hope for our blighted planet. But when these kids are being sucked into violence so soon in their lives, we are reminded of something Christ said. The Lord had said that if anyone misleads these tiny ones then it is better for that person to hang a grindstone around his neck and drown.
If the US?s President Bush is a Christian, then we know what he has to do. Christ is clear. The mess in the Middle East is a creation of the US. By now Israel and Palestine would have found peace if there was no meddling US there. The US is there in the guise of a peace-monger but all it wants is the oil. And how so much we write, for Bush and his cronies only US kids matter, Palestinian children do not even deserve individual naming. Now, do we name insects, vermin? The Eastern and Asian people are so much vermin burdening the white world. That is what developed nations think of us. Image Credit: Columbiatribune Via: Times Online
people are people but the sincerity and innocence of children make them the most loved of all. seriously... im loving kids more than ever:) i spent the rest of my afternoon and evening (yes, today and we arrived home around 11) at my cousin's place...He came home from the US so we visited him for some, you know, pasalubong... joke.. haha.. but of course i wanted to see him, too :) and so there.. it turned out to be some kind of a reunion.. but the fun thing here was my being called a tita for the first time.. it was just amazing how these kids hurdled asking for blessings whatever.. "mano" like we do to our lolas and lolos.. haha:) and i'm getting older.. i am the eldest in the family so I'm used to being the ate. But learning that these kids are already my nieces and nephews made me behave older and more mature infront of them..i guess they thought aunties were the more mature women.. hehe however as soon as they started talking to me, i couldn't help but return to my natural old self---a child at heart... hehe..and besides no one says being a tita means being old, mature and strict, right? maintaining proper decorum like my other titas do is something you'll forget when you hang around and play with them.. and you start doing "foolish' things (relatively) and laugh.. and tell stories( mostly my creations) for them, play and ride with their natural playfulness. huwaw... it was just amazing.. and you'll really be smiling even though they're tugging your hair or asking you to play like sadako...[my nephew said i looked like sadako with my hair] haha surprisingly, i learned so much from them... 1. when you want sincere words,as in no flatteries, better ask them my nephew said... "alam mo, parang di kita tita.. parang magkasinglaki lang tayo.. Anung year mo na ba?" me: third year college "ha? parang high school la lang e" Oh my... that's off... :( haha... but of course, i laughed. and he's not the only person telling me that.. how brilliant. 2. Children recalls and remembers the single thing you do to them. pamangkin 2: alam mo, ung dadi mo ata un, nung binisita namin sila sa tarbaho nila, binigyan ako ng 500php nun (pasko kaya ganun)... kaya ako pag laki ko gusto ko katulad ng sa dadi mo... amazing.. my dad said he couldn't remember that. but the kid did... so lesson learned--- be good to kids.. cause the things you do could either make or break them... 3. Kids have strong memories. really. and its so amazing that they can describe our place that vivid... i wasn't there when they came to our house but while we were chatting my nephew said that he has come to our place already.. "yung maraming salamin...pula ang bubong, malaki." and he even said they were served biko then.. amazing kids! my memory's poor that i tend to forget things i did a while ago.. bravo.. lesson: it's great to have kids remember stuff. You can rely on them. 4. Chilldren are naturally talkative. they have wild imaginations.. Talk to them and you'll know what i mean. you'll definitely learn from them.. Get inspired with their stories...have fun:) 5. CHildren epitomize innocence, grace, and happinessghgh children are fun to be with.. theyre innocent and they'll free you from worries.. When I talk to our youngest.. and try to ask him what to do.. explain him so and so... he gives really light answers that others would deem as non-sensible.. but if you were to analyze it.. it turns out to be as simple as that.. of course that doesn't happen everytime but it does. They sometimes could serve as an angel offering you solutions.. haha:) try it. 6. children are technocrazy.. and really i swear.. my nephew have their own psps..and they know those stuff.. and even their prices... and you'll just be amazed that during your time, you're already happy with a luto-lutuan, a bike, stuff like that.. but hey.. these kids are...they're up to date more than you think you are.. whhoow! 7. but kids have their own moods.. theyre like switches.. they can be on or off.. kids have their varied mood swings.. they can be that annoying that you just wanna throw them.. i mean they're not perfect.. they can be angels.. but yes even angels could turn into ur damnest nightmare.. hehe:P 8. children have great dreams all children have dreams. really big dreams. help them. encourage them. self image development starts at childhood..a lil encouragement, sincere praises are big thing for them.. be generous! never discourage them. 9. unfortunately, not all children are in good hands.. many are abused. handicapped. unfortunate. has malnutrition. has no family. and really in need of our HELP. 10.i love children. and i really do.. Hope you, too, do! morning=)
2 am confused. the better way to describe me now. thoughts just rush in. and i find no better way to express this than sharing it with people I believe will listen...i mean will read. and u are now. haha you know how deviation from usual thoughts could actually define your future. A thought perhaps of shifting out from a present course.. of surrending what you have previously believed in, or, of reconsidering another way, could then spell out a different "you" playing in a different "game." im planning to shift out. seriously. the thing is I want it asap for less delays (graduation matters). impulsive i know. but this still is a plan. the final submission for shifting has been off for two days already and till today, i haven't made up my mind. Why only now that I’ll be affected by TOFI? Why only now that I'm just semesters away from my internship? Could this be a retreat.. or just an outburst of emotion? an attack of practicality? or just a doubt of capability? when the thought of consistency, security and financial stability in the future strike you, why won't you be thinking again. i mean, i know you will understand... (actually, I'm hoping you would.) there's this feeling in me that says I should've tried another path... rethink. reconsider. Everything's turning smooth..as of now... spice it up? you think? hurdle and take new risks...? adventure --- a costly and a 300% more costly adventure? i'm sorry. i couldnt tell the whole thing. like how i blog today, i am still confused. maybe tomorrow, ill blurt out another thing... I don't know what happens if i shift out. BAA. don't laugh. it doesnt help. like what a friend said.. it's everybody's shifting den. its like him equating BAA and ECON to "mukhang pera" courses. How was that? i don't care though. people dont like being stereotyped but they themselves enclose another person in those same, oversimplified and narrow categs.. hayy :( special thanks to kuya eejay and to jona... for listening. as for now. i'm still thinking. thinking. still. :)
| artista? | Apr 12, '08 6:03 AM
for everyone |
Who were you in your past life? Rate: FIVE STAR Retake this test  Jodee, you could have been a famous Oil painting, sculpture, photography. No matter the medium, it's clear that an imaginative soul like yours must have been an artist in a former life. With your creativity and originality, you've got a unique approach to the world that just begs to be shared with everyone.
Like the great masters who came before you, you march to the beat of your own drummer and don't follow the herd. You live life by your own rules and aren't afraid to express your ideas. Lucky for all of us, they're great ones. So, keep expressing yourself. You're sure to be legendary! ------------------------- haha:) nakakatuwa nmn. http://web.tickle.com/tests/pastlife/result.jsp
| dilaw | Apr 11, '08 4:16 AM
for everyone |
papaano kung ang mga bagay na 'yong kinukondena nagaganap mismo sa iyong tahanan? kung ang mga bagay na ipinaglalaban... paminsan minsa'y iyo ring kasalanan? --- kung ang kabuuan ay sinasaliwa ng kontradiksyon, minamanipula ng kung anu-anong kalkulasyon, nararapat nga bang ikaw'y husgahan? --- Produkto man ng pagkakagapos, di na muli pang pabibihag. --- kung pagliban nga ang sagot sa katanungan, sana man lamang... wag kaming kalimutan.
ligaw na bituka. kami yun. magkaiba. pero iisa. malayo. malabo. ngunit t'wing magkikita kahit sa pagitan lang ng mga letra parang wala namang nag-iba. iisa. magkadugtong. ... patuloy na nagmamahal. patuloy na minamahal. ... sana.
i came upon this article.. Japanese machine-washed Filipina's body parts -- reports hatsh ito. sa ayaw bumasa, wag niong basahin. eto ang link: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view/20080408-129152/Japanese-machine-washed-Filipinas-body-parts----reports si JOJI OBARA ay isang wealthy Japanese businessman.. may history na as a serial rapist but three years lang na napakulong... 2 Filipina na ang nabiktima niya..aside pa from his Japanese victims. after all...acquitted siya after allegedly being involved sa murder ng isang nangngangalang Blackman... see kung panu binabaliktad ng pera ang hustisya? he tried killing himself.. buti d natuloy. he has to face the consequences of what he did. ang lupet niya. natatkot ako para sa mga OFWs natin n prone sa ganito... though nangyayari dn nmn ang gn2ng case s pgtan ng Filipino at is pang Pilipino. still ang harsh.
2:30 a.m. succesfully posted ang pics nang may narinig akong kaluskos at yabag ng tao sa baba. ginising ko ang kapatid ko ayaw. kinatok ko ng malakas ang pinto nina dadi. kinuha nia ang baril. SABI KO INGAT DAD... tapos... tapos... wALA...wala naman daw. pero may narinig talaga ako. basag nga ang baso... umikot pa sila sa labas. wala naman daw. bangag. matulog na daw ako. cge baka nga. ok. pero may narinig tlg ako.
     
This is a forwarded message from Maita M. This isn’t intended to put the kids under scrutiny or humiliation, or make someone charge me wd libel for exposing the pics… these children don’t need your pity. Wala yung magagawa-- unless you decide to do a charity or offer them something. Magjoin kau ng cradle for example or any children’s advocate group. The message, however, is to help you (and me) put things into perspective. I hope it’ll do. Salamat. The original sender: From: Debbie Kessler [mailto:trusthim@charter.net]
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 12:50 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients@mxsf01.cluster1.charter.net
Subject: WOW - this makes you put things into perspective
ARE you still complaining? Count your blessings. Natamaan ka ‘no? ako din e. after posting the thing about cake.. (see my previous blog. Those with pics of cake.) wowh… made me pause and think… it's been in my inbox for like months already.. ngaun lang ulit nakita. “We are fortunate that we have much more that we need to be content. Let’s try not to feed this endless cycle of consumerism and “immorality” in which this “modern and advanced” society forgets and ignores the other 2/3s of other brothers and sisters.”--- mail sender
"LESSEN DEPENDENCE ON IMPORT. STRENGTHEN SUPPORT FOR LOCAL FARMERS. INSTALL LEADERS THAT WILL PROTECT AND PURSUE THE INTERESTS OF THE MAJORITY." -KARL CASTRO here's an article from the IBON foundation ("the best source for data and analyses on current issues," accdg to Karl C.). I got this from his site. please read... Insecurity in Rice Supply
The country’s dependence on rice imports in the wake of the liberalization of its agricultural sector is behind the concerns in the supply of rice, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.
The Philippines is Asia’s top rice importer with an average annual importation of over one million metric tons a year from 1995 to 2006, from 151,588 metric tons from 1984 to 1994. IBON points out that 1995 was the year when the Philippines became a member of the World Trade Organization and intensified trade liberalization.
The country’s dependence on imports is what lies behind concerns behind the
country’s rice supply. Government officials have claimed that there as no shortage in rice stocks even as they are struggling to source some two million metric tons of rice this year amid tight global supply and soaring world prices.
The liberalization of the agricultural trade has resulted in the bankruptcy of local farmers. Governments have also failed to dismantle the local cartel of rice traders, and this has contributed to the artificial shortage in the country.
Moreover, rice farmers continued to be saddled with problems such as high production costs, inadequate irrigation and other facilities and inaccessible credit. Because of these problems, rice production has not increased significantly over the past decade.
To increase productivity and ensure the country’s self-sufficiency in rice supply in the short-term, regulatory mechanisms on food supply that were removed by liberalization should be imposed again, together with providing enough subsidies and other support services for rice farmers.#
____________________________________________________________________________ IBON Slams Proposal To Cut Rice Tariff
Importation not a solution but reason behind worsening rice crisis
The bid to lower rice tariffs to bring in more importation is a problematic proposal since the country’s growing dependence on rice imports is precisely the reason behind the worsening rice crisis. In reaction to the proposal made at the government’s ongoing Food Summit to reduce tariffs to as low as 12%, independent think-tank IBON Foundation says that rice importation has not resulted in lowered rice prices, but worsened the bankruptcy of farmers and even placed the country to greater food insecurity.
The group added that rice tariff cuts will allow higher profit margins for private traders and will only give them further control of rice prices and ultimate monopoly in the distribution of rice.
Instead of cutting tariffs and allowing more importation, government should do the opposite: re-impose regulatory mechanisms on food supply that were removed by liberalization and provide enough subsidies and other support services for rice farmers.
IBON stresses the need to resist impositions made by international creditors like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to bring down rice tariffs and increase food importation.
Government should also immediately increase NFA’s palay procurement from its dismal 5-year average of 0.05% of the total palay production to effectively influence the market. This will directly benefit local farmers, and will help NFA address the issue of hoarding by rice cartels. #
Breaking Monopolies, Reversing Liberalization: A Step To End Rice Crisis
The presence of a rice cartel is only part of the monopoly control of land and capital in Philippine rice production, trade, and marketing and aggravated by neoliberal policies adhered to by the Philippine government
By Jennifer H. Guste
 IBON Features-- As the government insists there is enough rice available for everyone, it is now looking at rationing rice to three kilos per family, and has secured the importation of around 2.2 million metric tons (MT) of rice from Vietnam, Thailand and the United States. This is the country’s biggest volume of importation since 1998.
From being a self-sufficient and rice exporting country in the 1980s, the country has become a net importer of rice since 1993. It is now the world’s top importer of rice, the country’s staple food crop.
Why this has become so can be traced to the backwardness of Philippine agricultural production and the exploitative relations of production, which are both exacerbated by globalization. Production tools are outdated, almost all farms are not mechanized, more than half are not yet irrigated, and most of all, seven out of 10 peasants are still landless. Despite three agrarian reform programs, land is still in the hands of few families who control not only land but also trade and marketing. Aggravating the condition are the globalization policies of trade liberalization, privatization and deregulation adopted by the government since the late 1980s.
Rice Production in Chronic Crisis
Philippine average rice yield per hectare is stagnant. Since the 1990s, the country’s rice yield has averaged at 3 metric tons per hectare even as it records yearly increases in production. According to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the required yield for the Philippines to sustain food security is 5.4 metric tons per hectare.
Philippine rice lands is only four million hectares compared to its counterparts in Asia. For instance, Thailand devotes more than 10 million hectares for its rice production; Vietnam has more than seven million hectares planted to rice.
Rice production remains small-scale and productivity is low. This situation is even worsened by the increasing instances of conversion of rice farms to commercial uses and conversion of crops from rice to export winners, which has put the country in constant state of crisis in its rice supply.
Meanwhile, landlessness and the absence of government support through production and price subsidies leave millions of Filipino rice farmers at the mercy of big land owners and traders.
Even with the use of hybrid rice that promises a boost in rice production with minimal lands devoted to rice farming, rice supply in the country is still under threat of shortage and government will always find reason to resort to rice importation to fill in its buffer stocks. According to the National Food Authority (NFA), the country can only supply approximately 90% of its total rice consumption; the rest, according to the NFA, would have to be imported.
In reality, government has practically stopped subsidizing local agriculture for decades, and can be seen from the meager budget allocations received by the agricultural and fisheries sector. Worse, the funds intended for the sector are even reportedly siphoned off to corruption.
Even its much-hyped Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) did little in improving post-harvest facilities or even significantly increasing irrigated rice farms.
Reinforcing backwardness
Policies of globalization on rice, i.e. trade liberalization (allowing rice imports), privatization (clipping NFA powers), and deregulation (lifting of government production and price support), which the government started to implement in the 1980s, has reinforced the rice crisis.
The privatization of the NFA, for one, has been one of the conditions for the Philippine government to avail of loans from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The NFA was once allowed to engage in grains procurement and distribution using government buffer stock and subsidized pricing system as main intervention instruments. But since the 1980s as a result of reforms adopted by the Philippine government to comply with the World Bank and ADB prescriptions, the role of the NFA in ensuring the country’s food security and price stabilization has been reduced to being a “facilitator” of the market forces-- the big rice traders and retailers.
The NFA has increasingly relied on rice imports for local distribution. On the other hand, from an average of 7.95% of total palay production in 1977-1983, and 3.63% from 1984 to 2000, NFA rice procurement from 2001 to 2006 was barely 0.05% of total palay production. The NFA is originally mandated to procure at least 12% of total palay production.
Other than the World Bank and ADB conditionalities for minimized NFA intervention in grains procurement and trading, under the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) of the World Trade Organization, the country has been compelled to import a minimum volume of rice from other countries whether or not it produces rice sufficiently. Rice importation has increased as a consequence, from 0 in 1994 to 257,260 MT in 1995 and consistently increasing to 1.7 million MT by 2006.
Yet, with the current rice crisis, private traders have still renewed calls for the full privatization of the NFA. Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture is even entertaining options to lower tariffs on rice importation to encourage greater private sector participation in rice importation and trade. Presently, licensed private traders are allowed to import a minimum of 300,000 MT of rice but this according to the NFA has been hardly utilized by the private traders due to the 50% tariff on rice.
Ironically, instead of re-considering government subsidy to farmers’ production, an increase in the subsidy given to the NFA is even being considered to allow the state agency to shoulder some of the import costs of private importers!
Yap said the scheme would call for the NFA to import rice “through a tax-expenditure-subsidy scheme and the volume that NFA brings can be sold to the private sector for it to distribute on the basis of an equalization fee that they will bid for.” Under this plan, the private sector will be allowed initially to bring in 163,000 tons of rice this year, with each importer given a maximum volume of 2,500 tons.
Rice Price Speculation
Peasant organization Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), on the other hand, maintains that there is no need to import rice. According to the group, if the projected 7.2 million MT palay output for this season is met, combined with the total rice inventory as of March 25, then there should be enough rice available for every Filipino table until the first week of October, even without importation.
In an interview with IBON Features, KMP chairperson Rafael Mariano said that the government is importing rice because it has already committed rice importations earlier from Vietnam and the US.
He said the NFA is importing rice because it has persistently failed to perform even its minimal procurement of 12% of the total palay production. Mariano added NFA has only procured only about 1% of palay production in the last cropping season, leaving most of the tradeable rice into the hands of big rice traders, particularly the so-called Big Seven cartel who now dictates the price of rice in the market.
In fact, a few days after the DA wrote a memorandum to the office of the President warning of the threat of a tightening global rice supply and thus the need to secure rice imports, news of a rice shortage in major markets in the NCR and in the provinces broke out. Subsequently, rice prices skyrocketed and created panic among rice retailers and consumers nationwide.
The same thing happened during the rice crisis in 1994-1995, largely a result of the semi-privatization of NFA which then procured only 0.5% of total palay production. Private traders seized the opportunity to create an artificial rice shortage and jacked up prices by as much as 90% to 100 percent.
The monopoly control in the trade and marketing of rice through the so-called Big Seven manipulates rice price increases especially during rice crises. The reduced role and intervention of the NFA in the rice market allows private traders to control both the trade in inputs and produce, thus influencing the movement of prices in the trade and marketing of rice.
Despite its import injections, the NFA’s limited distribution because of its minimal palay procurement also prevents the NFA from influencing retail rice prices. In fact, the NFA has distributed an annual average of only 6% of the nation’s rice requirements, and much of the rice distributed is even imported.
Ending Monopolies
The presence of a rice cartel is only part of the monopoly control of land and capital in Philippine rice production, trade, and marketing. It is a manifestation of the chronic rice crisis in the Philippines, which is aggravated and reinforced by neoliberal policies adhered to by the Philippine government.
There are doable measures to solve the chronic rice crisis the country. One step that government should do is to regain control of the trade and marketing of palay and rice to break the monopoly control of cartels. The country should also break away from binding agreements that government made to the GATT-WTO and reinstate agricultural tariffs while increasing support to Filipino farmers. Ultimately the crisis could be resolved by implementing a genuine agrarian reform program that do not only provide free distribution of land to farmers, but also provides input and capital subsidies, and investments in post-harvest facilities that will help end land monopoly. # IBON Features
Reinstate NFA POWER to help Address RICE cartel Independent think-tank IBON Foundation called on the National Food Authority (NFA) to intensify its procurement of local palay rather than importing more rice from abroad in order to address the rice crisis. In 2006, NFA procured just 73,078 metric tons (MT) from local farmers, or less than 1% of total production of 10 million MT while contracting 1.6 million MT of imported rice from Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan. Government plans to import some 2 million MT of rice this year.
Increased NFA procurement would prevent rice traders and cartels from taking advantage of local farmers. It would also increase farmers’ incomes.
The semi-privatization of the NFA through the reduction of its functions under the Ramos administration had helped lead to the manifestation of the country’s chronic rice crisis in 1994-1995 when the rice cartel hoarded supplies and jacked up prices by 90% to 100 percent. During this period the country experienced a bumper rice crop of 11 million MT, while NFA procurement was down to 0.5% of total production.
But increased procurement was only a short-term measure to help alleviate price concerns and should be augmented in the long-term by moves to address moribund local rice productivity and farmers’ problems through subsidies, reversal of tariffs, and a genuine land reform program. #
As Gov't Holds Food SummitL Reverse RP's Dependence on Food Imports, Think-Tank urges
The Philippines has become too dependent on food importation to make up for its shortfalls in local production and should reverse this trend, says independent think-tank IBON Foundation as the Department of Agriculture opens its Food Summit today. “Importation should only be a short-term solution to supply shortages, “ said IBON executive editor Rosario Bella Guzman.
“In the long-term the government must make the country self-sufficient in the production of its staple foods such as rice, not just to guarantee that Filipinos have enough to eat without relying on foreign markets, but also to ensure sustainable development.”
According to data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, the country imported 808,000 metric tons (MT) of rice in 2001, or 10% of total rice disposable of 8.1 million MT. By 2006, imports had grown to 1.7 million MT or 17% of total rice disposable of 10.3 million MT.
Although it is a good sign that the National Food Administration has raised buying price of palay to P17 per kilogram from P12, it should ensure that traders do not translate this to unreasonably higher prices of commercial rice.
Government should also allocate more funds for buying from local farmers, said Guzman. If the P5 billion announced by Pres. Arroyo were used, it would only buy some 300,000 MT-- less than one percent of the expected production this year of 7.2 million MT of palay.
If the estimated P62 billion that would be used this year for imports were allocated for local procurement, the NFA could purchase from farmers 3.6 million MT of palay. Aside from benefiting local farmers, this would also help NFA address the issue of hoarding by unscrupulous rice traders.
“The Food Summit should focus on such urgent measures that will help improve our local production,” said Guzman. “The country’s experience since the 1990s clearly shows that importation has only terribly worsened the country’s self-sufficiency in food.” #
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