Press Release
March 26, 2007

VILLAR: STOP-GAP MEASURES WILL NOT SOLVE POVERTY
AND HUNGER PROBLEMS IN THE COUNTRY

Senate President Manny Villar, President of the Nacionalista Party, says that short-term solutions such as releasing a P1-billion hunger fund is not the way to go if the goal is to solve long-term problems of poverty and hunger in the country.

These are just stop-gap measures that will not really solve the problem at its roots. If at all, solutions like this can misconstrued as desperate attempts to immediately appease the hunger pangs of the Filipinos. But how many Filipinos and for how long only can P1 billion feed? cites Villar.

According to Villar, this recent move of the government is no different from the band-aid solutions tried before but eventually failed because they do not provide long-terms solutions and do not address the problem at its roots.

Given that one billion pesos can feed a number of Filipinos. But the release alone is already subject to speculations and doubts especially in the area of transparency and accountability. Are we sure that the money and the food will reach the targeted people? further cites Villar.

According to the first quarter survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS), conducted in February 24 to 27, about 3.4 million households or a record high of 19% Filipinos have experience involuntary hunger over the past three months. The hunger level worsened in Metro Manila (from 17.7% to 20.7%) and the rest of Luzon (from 17.7% to 18.3%).

According to Villar, as long as the so-called economic gains have not resulted into the creation of new jobs; have not attracted more investments or alleviated povertythe hunger problem will persist.

How long and far can one billion pesos go? This is a temporary relief. It may not even last until the next hunger survey. I believe in the saying that we should not give people fish but teach them how to fish instead. These are dole-outs and past experience should have taught us these dont work over the long-term, adds. Villar.

Villar has a three-pronged approach to ease poverty and hunger problems in the countryinstitute reforms in the agriculture, education and investment sectors. Support the development of agriculture, guide students to employable courses and provide adequate perks to labor-intensive investmentsthese would eventually help in easing the problems of our countrymen.

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