Villar blames ‘kabobohan ng mga bata’ on low milk production

Senator Cynthia Villar on Monday claimed that there is a lack of intelligence among Filipino children, and said dairy authorities and the country's low milk production are partly to blame.

In comments during the hearing on proposed Instructional Gardens Act and Integrated Urban Agriculture Act on Monday, Villar said that inefficient dairy programs have deprived students of milk that would have made them smarter.

“The Philippine Carabao Center and National Dairy Authority, they have been in existence for 26 years. Both of them. But the dairy production in the Philippines is 1% of the demand. Ninety-nine percent are all imported. Siyempre, kapag mahirap ang bata, kaya ba bumili ng imported? Hindi. Kaya wala nang umiinom ng milk na mahihirap na bata. Partly to blame kayo sa kabobohan ng mga bata,” Villar said.

“Iyong result nung international study…na second to the last tayo, you are partly to blame kayo. Kasi ang mga bata, pinaiinom ng milk para tumalino. Iyong dairy program niyo, partly to blame. Kasalanan ninyo. Kasi kung walang available na murang gatas para sa mga bata, paano iinom ng murang gatas ang mga bata?” she added.

Villar did not specify the survey, but the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released a poll last month which showed that the Philippines performed the poorest out of 79 countries in a reading literacy assessment, with Filipino students scoring a mean of 340 points—way below the OECD average of 487 points.

“Kaya ako, nagdi-distribute ako ng dairy projects in the provinces from my own allocation,” Villar said.

Misplaced priorities?

Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, then questioned Agriculture Secretary William Dar for supposedly allowing the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) to buy vehicles to inspect the dairy projects that she initiated.

“Ano ginagawa ng PCC? Ibibili ng sasakyan [ang budget nila] para inspeksyunin ang aming dairy projects? Bakit ako ginaganito? Hindi naman ako humihingi sa budget niyo kasi baka pag humingi ako sa budget ninyo lalong matigas ang ulo niyo,” Villar said.

The Department of Agriculture has jurisdiction over the PCC, an attached agency of the department, and the National Dairy Authority, an attached corporation.

“Ako na nga ang nagbigay, tapos ibibili ang sasakyan para mag-inspeksyon ng dairy projects? Kaya one percent [of the milk demand] eh. Ibinibili kasi ng sasakyan, hindi diretso sa project mismo,” Villar said.

She then went on to accuse the agriculture officials of creating layers of bureaucracy by conducting inspections, saying that these do not benefit the public.

Sabi niya [Dar] sa akin, iyong building kasi, part ng contribution ng local government. Eh paano kung mahirap ang local government? Saan ilalagay ang processing center? Ibibili ng sasakyan [ang pera] kaysa sa processing center?” Villar said.

“Iyan ba ang itinuro sa inyo?  To have a lot of bureaucracy,  a lot of overhead [costs] para masaya kayo lahat, puera ang agriculture [sector]?” she added.

After chastising the Agriculture officials, Villar then called on the Bureau of Plant Industry to state its position on the pending bills. — BM, GMA News