Cebu monsignor to gov't: Don't cut rice subsidy

MANILA, Philippines - Cutting subsidies for the rice provided by the National Food Authority (NFA) at this time will be an anti-poor move, a Cebu Church official warned Tuesday night. Monsignor Achilles Dakay, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Cebu, said the government should instead increase the supply of subsidized rice to assure Filipinos of affordable food. In an interview on Church-run dyRF radio, Dakay voiced apprehension over a proposed scheme to pass the responsibility of importing rice from abroad to the private sector. Dakay said businessmen "expect to earn from their endeavors." Excerpts of the interview were posted late Tuesday on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website. Dakay said that as people take the brunt of the relentless increase of food and fuel prices, no wage increase is seen on the horizon for Central Visayas workers as in other regions of the country. Meanwhile, Dakay appealed to the government to adopt programs that could generate alternative sources of income for the marginalized sector. This is better than giving P5 billion as dole-outs to 300,000 poorest families in 20 provinces, he said. "It appears that the government is apparently falling short of realistic solutions to pressing problems that continue to haunt the country as people in government resort to dole-outs in order to create a scapegoat that it had done something to address the present situation even if it's not good enough," he said. - GMANews.TV