The rice shortage in the Philippines may be strange but how it is being used by politicians for their own ends is hardly surprising.
Take GMA's latest rhetoric, for example.
Arroyo said, "No endless investigation will put rice on the table, computers in classrooms, or clinics in barangay [villages]."
Referring to continuing investigations of massive corruption in the government, GMA seems to be suggesting that in the face of the current rice crisis, we should abandon all efforts at solving our country's other deep rooted problems, such as corruption. This is a false dichotomy and ultimately self-defeating. The deeply-ingrained culture and system of corruption is in itself another crisis. Any attempts at putting rice on the table, computers in classrooms, or clinics in barangays... or any attempts at improving the economy will surely be undermined as long as there still exists massive corruption.
So it is important to continue the investigations and hold those responsible accountable. If GMA doesn't want them to be endless, then maybe she should do all she can to make sure that those involved facilitate and do not impede the search for truth and the carriage of justice.
food on the table, not politics on the frontpage...
Hmm, I wonder if this news made it to the front page?
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
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