There's an interesting book which you, my friends, should read in the weekend. It's George Soros' book entitled, " The New Paradigm of Financial Markets". It's available on line, about 24 dollars for e-books. Soros explained why we are now facing the worst financial crisis of the century and how we will be able to avoid the effects of this.
I commend Gloria for her "tutok" policy in the Customs bureau. However, more than just a propaganda ploy, Gloria should immediately fire Morales. This will make us happier. It was obvious during the press con that there were violations of the Customs and Tariff Code made by his men. He should be fired immediately.
People should really go out in the streets now due to this food crisis. As for rice, there's an apparent attempt to really jack up the price of this cereal to an average of 25 pesos. Government propagandists are trying to justify this by further releasing statements about the crisis. I think this is the height of government apathy on the plight of the poor because they should not allow rice to break the 20 pesos per kilo barrier because as they said, the main issue is not stocks but price. If it's price, they should at least shoulder the burden of the price difference for the meantime because people nowadays lack the capacity to buy food.
Gloria should not be held hostage by these giant rice traders. By the way, 3 big-time traders were allegedly arrested in Isabela. GMA should parade them before the media. That would make my day.
Showing posts with label rp rice crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rp rice crisis. Show all posts
Friday, April 18, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Implications of RP Food Crisis
Government announced it has allocated P 43 billion to solve the food crisis. Economic adviser Joey Salceda warns that this food crisis is "worse than political" and it may last until 2010. His boss, Mrs. Arroyo quickly corrected Joey's statement to say that it's not a "food" crisis; rather, it's just a "rice price" crisis. Former NEDA secretary Diokno rebuked Mrs. Arroyo by saying that this crisis has put an enormous strain on the economy, which Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) attributed to a "governance crisis".
What has been gleaned so far, based on my readings on the issue is this:
1. There's really a global food crisis. Prices of commodities have risen to unaffordable levels. Peoples of non-industrialized countries are finding it extremely hard to buy their staple commodities. Explanations were given by various government and research institutions. There's an increase in demand which can't be solved by production. Global warming is said to have caused massive infrastructural and production damages. Rising prices of agricultural feeds & fertilizers, lack of irrigation systems and shortage of farmlands impact on production.
2. Personal incomes cannot support food prices. People line up at NFA warehouses because they can't afford buying commercial rice which has risen to astronomical proportions since government announced a rice shortage. Prior to this though, suppliers and traders of flour, cooking oil, lpg and meats already told government that they can't avoid raising their prices.
3. It is really a food crisis, not only a rice crisis. Mrs. Arroyo's claim that what's happening is not a food crisis is outright baloney. Bull. There's a food crisis, not because there's a lack of stocks. No. It's a crisis because people can't buy food. Simple. You don't need to be an economist to know that. You have a quarter of 90 million who are, right now, slowly dying because they can't eat enough food.
Prognosis
From that 90 million people, only 25 million have jobs. Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Sergio Ortiz says 70 percent of that figure belong to the informal sectors, meaning those who work menial jobs and are contractual. This sector are the ones being severely hit by this food crisis and should be given emergency assistance.
The remaining 30 percent endure the brunt of high prices. They have the capacity to buy but this is slowly being affected by high inflation.
Solution
On a short-term basis, government should immediately force food traders to take out their stocks from their warehouses. Based on reports, there are enough stocks to feed people, but unscrupulous traders are actually hiding them to force price increases. Government should arrest all of them and charge them and confiscate their stocks.
These stocks should be distributed in the market under controlled conditions. Meaning, DTI should effect price monitoring and regulate. Arrest and prosecute government officials who will be caught selling these stocks back to commercial traders and retailers.
What has been gleaned so far, based on my readings on the issue is this:
1. There's really a global food crisis. Prices of commodities have risen to unaffordable levels. Peoples of non-industrialized countries are finding it extremely hard to buy their staple commodities. Explanations were given by various government and research institutions. There's an increase in demand which can't be solved by production. Global warming is said to have caused massive infrastructural and production damages. Rising prices of agricultural feeds & fertilizers, lack of irrigation systems and shortage of farmlands impact on production.
2. Personal incomes cannot support food prices. People line up at NFA warehouses because they can't afford buying commercial rice which has risen to astronomical proportions since government announced a rice shortage. Prior to this though, suppliers and traders of flour, cooking oil, lpg and meats already told government that they can't avoid raising their prices.
3. It is really a food crisis, not only a rice crisis. Mrs. Arroyo's claim that what's happening is not a food crisis is outright baloney. Bull. There's a food crisis, not because there's a lack of stocks. No. It's a crisis because people can't buy food. Simple. You don't need to be an economist to know that. You have a quarter of 90 million who are, right now, slowly dying because they can't eat enough food.
Prognosis
From that 90 million people, only 25 million have jobs. Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Sergio Ortiz says 70 percent of that figure belong to the informal sectors, meaning those who work menial jobs and are contractual. This sector are the ones being severely hit by this food crisis and should be given emergency assistance.
The remaining 30 percent endure the brunt of high prices. They have the capacity to buy but this is slowly being affected by high inflation.
Solution
On a short-term basis, government should immediately force food traders to take out their stocks from their warehouses. Based on reports, there are enough stocks to feed people, but unscrupulous traders are actually hiding them to force price increases. Government should arrest all of them and charge them and confiscate their stocks.
These stocks should be distributed in the market under controlled conditions. Meaning, DTI should effect price monitoring and regulate. Arrest and prosecute government officials who will be caught selling these stocks back to commercial traders and retailers.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Rice hoarding: Why Us?
Government just warned us, ordinary citizens, against rice hoarding. Huh? Government under Arroyo is really messed up. Why target us, ordinary law-abiding citizens, when the real culprits behind all these smuggling and hoarding are those big-time rice traders?
What's a few kilos of rice kept in our little rice containers compared to the thousands and thousands of cavans of rice kept in those big warehouses of these rice traders in QC, Quezon Province, Caloocan, Laguna, Isabela, Pangasinan, etc? Go after the big fishes, not us!
Gloria, why are you soooo helpless in fighting out these big-time rice cartels? Are you afraid of them?
Are you really that stupid and so coward that you can't seem to go against these people? They are threatening you. They are even mocking your so-called "presidential" powers.
My offer still stands--should you put an end to this big-time rice cartel, me and my family will praise you to high heavens and will support you and recognize you as a legitimate president of this country. I will even help you with all my resources should you present at least two (2) big time rice cartel members, with their heads bowed and their tentacles killed.
Its a challenge that still stands.
What's a few kilos of rice kept in our little rice containers compared to the thousands and thousands of cavans of rice kept in those big warehouses of these rice traders in QC, Quezon Province, Caloocan, Laguna, Isabela, Pangasinan, etc? Go after the big fishes, not us!
Gloria, why are you soooo helpless in fighting out these big-time rice cartels? Are you afraid of them?
Are you really that stupid and so coward that you can't seem to go against these people? They are threatening you. They are even mocking your so-called "presidential" powers.
My offer still stands--should you put an end to this big-time rice cartel, me and my family will praise you to high heavens and will support you and recognize you as a legitimate president of this country. I will even help you with all my resources should you present at least two (2) big time rice cartel members, with their heads bowed and their tentacles killed.
Its a challenge that still stands.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Truth: Filipino Version
Truth--its everybody's buzz word today. From the halls of the Senate to the backwaters of Sulu, everybody wants everybody to seek and know the truth. And what is the truth?
Truth, as they say, is relative. One's truth maybe different from another's. For example, Neri's truth maybe coached in the simpliest terms--I heard my president say this, but I don't know if I'm at liberty of telling you about it. In JLo's case, I heard Neri lambasting the president for being an evil person but the truth is, he just wants me to moderate it. For Neri, he knows what the truth is, but he does not want to jeopardize the entire government since he probably believes that when Filipinos know the truth, will they be able to handle it properly? For Neri, the proper handling of the truth is filing charges in court. For JLo, its for the people to decide what to do next.
So, the truth depends on the perspective of people. For example, in the case of the on-going rice crisis. Government claims they're enough stocks. The problem is price, which, they say, is being influenced by global rice prices. Upon closer scrutiny, however, the people found out that the real reason why prices of rice continues to go up is that the rice cartel is manipulating it. Market prices are not dictating the price. No. It's the greediness of rice traders that is forcing rice prices to shoot up. So, its not global. Its purely local. And the fact is, government is helpless in combatting these big-time rice traders simply because they are transacting with them. Just like in Erap's time when the former president got what's due him for conniving and going to bed with jueteng lords, this government could fall under the weight of its prostitution with rice traders.
Therefore, for the Filipino, truth is what the Pinoy wants to believe. He wants to believe that he can feed himself without importing rice since he sees thousands of thousands of acres of prime, pristine and nutrient-rich lands all around. He does'nt see the fact that his government's priorities are elsewhere. Yes, there is land to cultivate. But government de-prioritized agriculture since government operators or the mafia does not see any profit from it. It prioritizes BPOs and the banks because everytime that a new foreign company sets up shop here, there's obviously protection money involved. Unlike agriculture.
There's plenty of land but you see thousands of them being turned into subdivisions. There's plenty of land but you don't see any tractors, any processing plants nor even rice mills dotting the landscape. There's no fertilizers because the monies were diverted elsewhere. There's no processing plants nor rice mills because the monies devoted to the development of agriculture have been diverted somewhere else. So rice varieties are being re-processed, NFA stocks diverted and big-time rice traders cum operators are happy. And when they are happy, the mayors, congressmen, governors and the palace are happy.
The palace announced that we will be spending 1.5 billion pesos for importation. Great. The palace just gave this 1.5 billion as free money to those traders.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Jueteng before, rice cartels today
Sources from the intelligence community revealed that some jueteng lords have now shifted to rice cartelization. Yes, after a massive and serious campaign against the illegal numbers game, some big-time jueteng lords have allegedly colluded with rice retailers and formed their own cartels in the provinces. For the benefit of mamang pulis, these areas are the following:
1. Pangasinan--they are using some cooperatives in buying NFA rice for "conversion"
2. Isabela--they have a big cooperative which they use for buying NFA rice again for "conversion"
3. Nueva Ecija and Nueva Viscaya--the same modus operandi. Some even have importation permits
4. Quezon, Cavite, Davao, Cebu
These syndicates have big warehouses (not bonded) in those areas. Go to Quezon province. They have big warehouses there full of sacks and sacks of rice, converted already from NFA and imported rice. In Valenzuela, Malabon and Caloocan, there are huge warehouses there of illegally imported rice.
I dare NFA administrator Jessup Navarro to release to the media a list of all those rice retailers whose licenses were revoked. I also asked DA Secretary Art Yap to reveal the list of these big-time rice traders to the public. If, as he says, his father-in-law Jim Gaw is not involved in rice or cereals trading, then, as a gentleman, he must "clear" his father-in-law of all complicity by being transparent in his revelation of this list. Not doing so would definitely tarnish his image and credibility.
It is also quite suprising why Yap just called his father-in-law to ask if he's involved. I don't believe this. Likewise, I think it is time for Yap to resign since all the big-time rice traders are Chinese. Yes, they are Chinese. There's nothing wrong with Chinese businessmen transacting here in our country. But, if they do these things---cartelization--then, they better leave this country and don't come back.
So I say--reveal the list now!
1. Pangasinan--they are using some cooperatives in buying NFA rice for "conversion"
2. Isabela--they have a big cooperative which they use for buying NFA rice again for "conversion"
3. Nueva Ecija and Nueva Viscaya--the same modus operandi. Some even have importation permits
4. Quezon, Cavite, Davao, Cebu
These syndicates have big warehouses (not bonded) in those areas. Go to Quezon province. They have big warehouses there full of sacks and sacks of rice, converted already from NFA and imported rice. In Valenzuela, Malabon and Caloocan, there are huge warehouses there of illegally imported rice.
I dare NFA administrator Jessup Navarro to release to the media a list of all those rice retailers whose licenses were revoked. I also asked DA Secretary Art Yap to reveal the list of these big-time rice traders to the public. If, as he says, his father-in-law Jim Gaw is not involved in rice or cereals trading, then, as a gentleman, he must "clear" his father-in-law of all complicity by being transparent in his revelation of this list. Not doing so would definitely tarnish his image and credibility.
It is also quite suprising why Yap just called his father-in-law to ask if he's involved. I don't believe this. Likewise, I think it is time for Yap to resign since all the big-time rice traders are Chinese. Yes, they are Chinese. There's nothing wrong with Chinese businessmen transacting here in our country. But, if they do these things---cartelization--then, they better leave this country and don't come back.
So I say--reveal the list now!
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