OPINION

A HUNGRY COUNTRY By Editha Duterte

Stop this madness!

Thinking that hunger will be wiped out in just six months through school feeding program, barangay food terminals, government rolling stores, and providing cheap medicines through ‘Botika sa Barangay’ is plain insanity.

Can’t the Palace give intelligent solutions to our poverty problems? Is this the best thing they can offer after telling us to cut down from our luxuries when we don’t even have enough money for our basic needs?

Right after the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released the result of its survey, showing that an estimated 3.4 million households nationwide or a fifth of all families have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months, Malacañang was humiliated as it earlier boasted of economic gains.

In Region 11, based from the figures of the National Statistics Office (NSO), we estimate that of 2007 there is a total population of 6.2M, with an average household size of five.

This means that there is an estimated 1.2M total families. Quoting from SWS that about a fifth of all families nationwide had experienced involuntary hunger, there would be an estimated 240 thousand families from the region who are affected.

The survey result is a big blow to Malacanang. It is ironic that they keep on proclaiming economic development, yet, hundred thousands of Davaoenos and millions of Filipinos are slowly dying in hunger.

The Palace’s so-called solutions to poverty right now is only meant to save its face, as it tries to persuade the public that it caters to the interests of the poor.

We stand to assert that the conditions of the poor will not be alleviated with the anti-poor and pro-capitalists economic policies of the current administration.

It maintains that the immediate and reasonable answers to the Filipinos’ woes are to increase the workers’ salaries, provision of decent and permanent jobs, and provision of basic social services, among others.