Of calloused indifference...

Since becoming semi-active in this blog, I've vowed to stay apolitical, since for me there are more edifying pursuits, however simple, than politics.

But some things really gets one's goat, so to speak. The following story, for me, is the height of the indifference and haughtiness of the nation's top leader, who I believe is an anomaly primarily to her gender and to everything that she stands for. Does she even know how it is to be hungry, just as millions of Filipinos do?:

Arroyo:'I'm a hunger victim, too'

Article posted March 22, 2007 - 07:25 PM
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday said that if simply missing a meal would qualify a person as having experienced hunger, then she, too, is a victim of hunger.

In an interview after a roundtable discussion at Malacañang, Mrs Arroyo said the way the question was posed among respondents could have been a factor why the hunger incidence reached a record high of 19 percent.

"Kasi iyun naman ang question ng hunger (It?s because of the way they posed the question), do you miss one meal during the last three months? Pati naman ako (me, too), I?ve missed one meal in the last three months," she said.

The nationwide Social Weather Stations survey conducted from February 24 to 27 showed that the hunger figure remained at 19 percent though there had been a recorded worsening in Metro Manila from 17.7 percent in November 2006 to 20.7 percent in February 2007, and in Luzon from 17.7 percent in November to 18.3 percent in February.

The President, however, admitted that insufficient income could be one of the factors why some families have missed a meal. She said most of those who missed a meal belong to families of coconut farmers. "That's why we want to spend as much as possible the coco levy on increasing the income of the farmers," she said.

The President said there are also cases when one of the parents or a family member has vices, like drinking. She said they spend the money buying liquor instead of food.

Mrs Arroyo said this is why her administration will try to educate families by teaching students about the right ?spending habits" to ensure that the family income is spent on basic necessities like food.

She said teaching parents about responsible parenthood and family planning methods would help poor families save more money, which they can spend on food.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Esperanza Cabral said a family spends about P2,000 for infant formula every month, which can be used to buy food.

The President said aside from saving money, breastfeeding is also a good family planning method.

Mrs Arroyo and Cabral also traced the high incidence of hunger to the removal of the ?food for school" program in the supplemental budget sought by the administration in 2006.

Cabral said the DSWD food-for-school program, where each daycare school children gets a kilo of rice daily for 120 days, had been scrapped and replaced with milk feeding and hot meals. The same program is offered by the Department of Education for younger elementary pupils. - GMANews.TV