Letter to the editor: "No camote, no NFA rice"

This concerns a column of Mr. Jabat written last October 20, 2008. In that issue, he wrote:

 "I received reports that there are sellers of NFA rice who require the buyers to also buy their camote. 'No buy camote, no NFA rice'. That seems to be the rule. You think only John Gokongwei has business strategy?"

Last May 2008, the Province of Cebu launched the Sinanduloy Alang sa Kabusog, Sinanduloy Alang sa Kahimsog (SAKSAK) Program as an answer to the rice shortage experienced throughout the country, and adversely affecting our constituents, most especially indigent families.

 Under this program (which incidentally is not a business strategy), local government units serve as NFA outlets for the 'poorest of the poor' constituents. The Province gave P100,000 to each LGU to aid them in establishing outlets for distribution of NFA rice. It also gave P100,000 for the mass production of sweet potatoes, locally known as camote, to further help the public cope with the increasing prices of rice.

We would like to emphasize that we did not make the "No camote, no NFA rice" mandatory because it is a business strategy. It is made mandatory that one kilo of rice should be bought together with a kilo of camote to increase the volume of the rice.

With Sinanduloy, where rice is cooked with camote, people will not have to rely mainly on rice, which is getting more and more expensive. Sinanduloy also has more nutritive value because camote has anti-oxidants, which is known for anti-aging, and reduces the risk of colon cancer and heart diseases.

To ensure that this project will really be implemented, LGUs were required to pass a resolution and attach a copy of its agreement with the NFA officials for the rice distribution before they could avail of their monetary aid.

The success of the project has gotten the attention of the national government. In one of her visits last April 2008, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo praised the Cebu Provincial Government for promoting the use of camote to extend the volume of rice. Sen. Richard Gordon also believed that the program is a laudable one because it gives an alternative to the people amid the rice crisis in the world market. He even expressed plans of making the national slogan for the project as "Saksakan ng Sarap, Saksakan ng Lusog."

We hope that this will serve to clarify, once and for all, our SAKSAK program and will erase any and all inaccuracies and/or misconceptions about the project.

MARIVIC GARCES

Department Head

Provincial Social and Welfare and Development Office

Provincial Government of Cebu