Villar seeks IPU help in solving food crisis

from the Manila Bulletin

Senate chief to stress poverty issues at meeting
Villar to ask IPU for help in solving poverty, food crisis

Senate President Manny Villar will appeal to legislators from more than 140 countries to help solve the food crisis and poverty in developing countries as he prepares to lead a Senate delegation to the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Cape Town, South Africa.

Seeking to maximize the country’s membership to the prestigious organization of parliamentarians to help address the nation’s pressing needs, Villar said he will bring the lack of food and medicine in developing countries to the attention of the IPU during its 118th Assembly on April 13-18.

Villar said he will ask countries with advanced agricultural technologies to help those that are perennially confronted with food shortages.

"They may share their expertise in irrigation, coastal resource management, modern farm practices and appropriate crop nutrition and protection methods," Villar said.

He will also make an appeal to parliaments in more advanced economies to consider modifying the international application of patents for drugs such that the duration of the protection of intellectual property rights may vary from one country to another based on the level of abject poverty.

Villar will deliver a speech supplementing the Assembly’s theme "Pushing Back the Frontiers of Poverty."

Established in 1889, the IPU is the international organization of parliaments from democratic countries around the world. The Philippines is among the more than 140 member countries and has been actively participating in the IPU’s efforts for peace and cooperation and the promotion of representative democracy.

"The lack of food and medicine may be an isolated problem in the countries in North America and Western Europe. But in many parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, the problem is at a crisis level," Villar said.

"To let the prices of these survival items be dictated by the interplay of impersonal market forces, which are driven by an overriding desire to get a good return on investment, is to ignore the plight of a majority of the world’s population," he said.

"A socially oriented pricing policy for poor countries is worth looking into," he said.

The Senate President will also bring to fore the plight of countries heavily burdened by external debts by pushing for "moratorium, condonation, or any other financial arrangements that enables countries to survive and rise again."

"What happened in Africa where the external debts of some African countries were condoned by a group of lending nations through backdoor diplomatic channels and with the intercession of celebrities noted for their antipoverty advocacy, may also be replicated in Asia and Latin America," he said.

Villar will also urge international parliamentarians to find better ways in fighting poverty. He said every parliament or legislature is a vital center of influence and "its impact goes beyond its national border."

"Like climate change and terrorism, poverty is a global menace. The IPU should spearhead the declaration of war against poverty which must be pursued with unfailing focus, passion and continuity," Villar said.

"This war should make allies of all nations. However, it demands more than a grand alliance. It calls for the solidarity of all stakeholders both big and small," he added.

Villar underscored the importance of the IPU in providing for an effective forum to address issues such as child labor, women empowerment, combating terrorism, and advancement in the increasing role of civil society, among others.

"In fact, for the Philippines, because of IPU participation, we enacted legislation to address these concerns to help our people. We expect to reap great rewards from our participation and help our citizens out of the maelstrom of poverty," Villar said.