Unprecedented spending on agriculture? Arroyo before investors; protesters picket venue.
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'Ermita stand absurd'
Senators slam new 'gag' order
SENATORS yesterday expressed outrage
over remarks of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita that
the Senate should first publish its rules and procedures
before it can summon cabinet members to its inquiries.
"It's time to change Ermita for
engaging in double talk. I can't fully blame him because
as he says he's not a lawyer. That's why I am proposing
he should be replaced by Mercedita Ona, this young girl
who topped the recent exam. She would know the law
better than Ermita," said minority leader Aquilino
Pimentel Jr.
"He is only reacting without deep
analysis. It does not carry much weight."
PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday said the
Philippines is expecting an increase in the country's rice
production this year by at least 7 percent.
Arroyo, at the 11th Asian Investment
Conference in Hong Kong, said the increase could be attributed
to the "unprecedented spending" that her administration has
devoted to the agricultural sector.
The funding went to research and development
of the agriculture industry, and construction and rehabilitation
of agriculture-related infrastructure like farm-to-market roads,
irrigations facilities, and food support system.
Still waiting for 'trickle-down,' 'social payback'
BY REGINA BENGCO
TWO in three Filipinos (66 percent) yesterday
said the economy worsened in the last three years, Pulse Asia
said in its Feb. 21-March 8 survey.
The survey had 1,200 respondents.
Seventy-one percent or about 12.8 million
families said they are very poor/poor. It was the same level in
July and October 2007 (75 percent and 68 percent, respectively).
Nearly six in 10 Filipinos (59 percent) said
their personal quality of life worsened in the past year, a
sentiment expressed by 48 to 68 percent of respondents in all
geographic areas and socio-economic classes.
