Life As We (Don't) Know It

From the Reporter's Notebook:

Stolen Childhood: Tales and travails of the babymakers

1. 14-15 year-old girls "hired" as babymakers mostly by foreigners
2. Going rate: Php10,000 allowance per month if she gets pregnant, the "baby's father" will shoulder the cost delivery, a one time payment of Php40,000-60,000 (Note: The middleman gets Php4,000 from the Php10,000 allowance, which basically leaves almost nothing at all to the pregnant child.)

The Poorest of the Poor Can Sometimes Be Those Who Farm for a Living: On the Rice Shortage

1. 400 out of 1,000 farmers in the Philippines earn Php14,000 only per year, a figure much lower than the poverty threshold.
2. The current rice shortage just mirrors the true state of a neglected sector in our society...the agriculture sector.
3. 40 years with no investments made on irrigation, no sound seed program, no water, no roads
4. Another culprit in this state of affairs is the rampant land conversion. In 2007 alone, more than 1,000 hectares of farmlands and large portions of irrigated lands have been converted to factory areas, golf courses, subdivisions, etc.
5. The Philippines is the biggest importer of rice in Asia, and the third biggest importer of rice in the world.
6. An estimated 2.1 million tons of rice is expected to be imported this year. This will cost the government approximately 40 billion pesos because of the buy high sell low policy.
7. The question: Why focus on importing rice instead of seeking genuine reforms that could ultimately lessen the financial impact on the government?

All these are bits and pieces of a bigger picture that we seldom really see. But once we see them, the images they depict in our minds are pictures we cannot truly escape.

Tanong Lang...

Badette: May lalaki ba na cow?
Jerz: Oo naman! Paano sila dadami kung wala?
Badette: Eh ano tawag mo sa lalaking cow?
Jerz: Bull di ba?
Benj: Oo bull!
Dex: Bull ba? May bull ba sa Pilipinas?
Blue: O sige, para matahimik ka Badette, "cowboy"!
Badette: Hindi, hindi. Kailangan malaman ko ang sagot.

(An hour or so later...)

Badette: May lalaki ba na cow? Ano tawag?
Ryan: Oo meron. Bull di ba?
Jerz: See? See? O ha, o ha, pareho kami ng sagot! Bull nga kasi (...I think...)!

(The day after...)

From Tristan:

The Rice Chronicles: Band-aids on Gaping Wounds

Picking up from here...

Stumbled into some interesting newsbits again:

1. 238,000 sacks of rice have just arrived from Vietnam. These will be the NFA rice that will be sold in certain areas to address the rice "shortage". - This is good news, I think, at least there is more supply of rice that could go around for Php18.25/kilo. The thing is, will this ever be enough? Regardless if there is truly a rice shortage or if it is just all the hype that is creating this increasing demand for NFA rice, the bottom line is there is an underlying issue here that really need to be addressed. How long is this country going to rely on importing rice from countries such as Vietnam and the U.S.?
2. The CBCP will work with the government (i.e. the NFA) to ensure the proper distribution of rice. - Collaboration is the key, so it would seem. Not only is the government asking for the church's help but it also is depending on the local government units to facilitate the proper distribution of rice.
3. The NFA asked for the NBI's help to investigate on alleged cases of hoarding. - It seems that, again, the laws have no teeth. The NBI said there are existing laws but the challenge usually is the implementation. And that much...is obvious.

Sixty Seconds' Worth of Distance Run

I just had this sudden longing for 24 hours dedicated to sloth-like existence. I am thinking empty calendar, no expectations, no responsibilities, and no rush. Just slow, blissful minutes of nothingness.

But right now, that is just an imaginary state. It is Saturday and I am up and about for another round of meetings for the upcoming Wushu national championship. While doing that, I am silently berating myself for not having started reviewing the FISA rules yet. Barely three weeks before jury duties and I still have not opened the book even just to pretend making an effort to read.

It appears that April is definitely NOT a slow month. Work. Running. Wushu. Rowing. FISA. Capoeira. Futsal. And of course, more importantly, those advocacy projects that are in the pipeline.

So, what is there to do when there is just too many things to do? Nothing much, except smile, breathe, and make that sixty seconds' worth of distance run.

The Rice Chronicles: Shackles of Morality

Continuing from here...

...opinions of an expert (a former agriculture secretary ata or something)...

1. There is no rice shortage, at least not for the moment. - Hmmmm, I think I agree. It could be that the hype is just making a bad situation look worse. And I think that the real issue is the spate of hoarding that some unscrupulous rice retailers/dealers are doing. More importantly, maybe this problem just highlights the lack of policies that could effectively manage it. Or, it could be that there are policies but no sound implementation capabilities.
2. The government should also look at the population issue. The problem on how to ensure that there is adequate supply of rice is closely tied with the problem of population. It is just impossible to separate these two. - Ayan, ayan naman. Current daily consumption of rice is estimated at 23,000 metric tons according to a report that I read somewhere. This figure is projected to balloon to 36,000 metric tons of rice in a few (very few actually) years time. Clearly, there is an increasing number of mouths to feed. Oo nga naman, how can current production capacity cope with a population growth that is shooting up to the sky in record levels in a blink of an eye? There was a challenge thrown to both the government and the church...please address the population issue. To which the church maintains...they have always been advocating for population control but only through moral means. Hmmm, makes me wonder...saang konsepto ng morality papasok yung hahayaang ipanganak ang mga bata at mamulat sa gutom at kamangmangan? Condom/pill vs. a child abandoned and just waiting to die...where does morality come in?

I remember the song "Magtanim ay di biro..." and I cannot help but think that indeed, planting rice, planting seeds is not quite easy as it seems. But plant, we all must. Plant seeds of hope and change because in the end, it might just be the only good thing we can really leave in this world.

The Rice Chronicles: Walang Aminan

Maybe I am just gung-ho about anything related to food, which probably prompted me to write this and this.

As the saga continues...

In the past two days, I have watched news reports of the NFA along with the police conducting surprise visits (that's a nicer way of saying raids by the way) into non-accredited NFA retailers' warehouses. These raids churned out hundreds of empty NFA sacks. Close inspection of the said sacks reveal that they have been opened and emptied...and it is anybody's guess as to where the contents went.

This morning's news show this retailer explaining how 750 empty NFA sacks found their way into a very discreet corner of her warehouse. Then the camera pans out to a warehouse full of sacks and sacks of rice.

I think the lesson here is: Walang aminan. Kung ikaw ang nakahuli, aba eh, problema mo na yan. Kaya nga burden of proof, hindi ba? Good luck na lang kasi sa usapang denial, mas malalim pa sa Nile River ang balon ng kasinungalingan.

An Attempt To Understand...Futsal

I am attempting to understand Futsal better. Foremost reason is, of course, because it is a new sport for me (and my first attempt to religiously play a ball game). I have always believed that I have this thing with ball games. Ball games and me are chemistry-challenged. There seems to be something missing in the mix to make it really work.

But seeing that I seem to be looking at this as a science (chemistry and all stuff, tsk), I might as well hold on to that idea and hope that I find that missing element which would help create the chemistry I need to improve in this sport.

Another reason why I want to understand Futsal has something to do with what brod Nathan mentioned during Capoeira last Sunday. He said that I could try understand Capoeira movements/attacks by really looking into the dynamics of a Futsal/Football game, specifically on how a good Futsal/Football player handles a ball.

And that, I must say, says it all.

Amazing

...newsbits...

1. The Philippines is the biggest importer of rice in Asia and the third biggest importer in the world.

2. PGMA is happy with DOJ and this other agency for bringing charges to the government official(s) involved in selling NFA rice to private retailers (Take note: the operative words being "bringing charges". And the most pressing question being "will the justice system work in favor of the people"? The answer, unfortunately, may not require much of an imagination.