Protesting farmers affiliated with Task Force Mapalad trooped to the Land Bank of the Philippines office in Bacolod City yesterday to ask for the speedy processing of their claim on the property owned by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

TFM spokesperson Edna Sobrecaray said in a press statement that the protest action came after the formal submission to LBP Bacolod Land Valuation Head Lemuel Sembrano of the claim folder of the property in Hacienda Bacan in Brgy.  Guintubhan, Isabela.

She said Sembrano received the folder after Agrarian Reform Assistant Secretary for Operations Dominador Andres ordered Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer Teresita Depeñoso to have the claim folder received by the LBP, the press release said.

City dad defends
hiring ordinance

Bacolod Councilor Catalino Alisbo yesterday defended City Ordinance No. 460 that was vetoed by the mayor, and said it is valid, legal and not ultra vires.

C.O. 460, an ordinance requiring all vertical and horizontal contractors, either funded by the government or private funds, to hire at least 20 percent of their workforce from the barangay where their constructions are situated, was vetoed by Mayor Evelio Leonardia on the ground that it was ultra vires.

In his letter dated April 15, Leonardia said that the power sought to be exercised in the ordinance was expressly and clearly included in the scope of taxing powers granted to the barangay under the Local Government Code. Thus, C.O. 460 is beyond the authority of the city to enact, he said.

‘Rice crisis due to bad
policies, not shortage ’

MANILA – The rice crisis affecting the Philippines is not caused by a shortage of rice but due to bad policies that have hurt the agriculture sector, a leading economist said in a report released yesterday.

"The so-called rice crisis is really an income crisis," said Rolando Dy, executive director of the food division of the Manila-based University of Asia and the Pacific.

He blamed "under-investment in agriculture and infrastructure, a poor record in eliminating poverty (and) poor infrastructure quality," for the crisis which has forced thousands of poor Filipinos to line up for hours for subsidized rice.

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