Pet Melliza

BY PET MELLIZA/ THE BEEKEEPER The Philippines can be self-sufficient in rice even this year — officials and militant farmers hint. All that is needed is reduce importation and shoot down smuggling. Agriculture secretary Proceso Alcala sees that for real, thus his petition to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2011 to extend the “quantitative restriction” (QR) on rice imports. Backing him is Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) general secretary Danilo Ramos who fumes at the Obama administration for blocking that move. The United States under Pres. Barack Obama opposes the Philippine request. China supports the country’s WTO petition despite the tension on the Spratleys. The WTO has granted the Philippines minimum access volume (MAV) of 350,000 metric tons (MT) for rice importation but the Macapagal-Arroyo administration opened the floodgates to foreign rice since 2001, capping that in 2010 with a deluge 2.45 million metric tons that hurt Filipino farmers. Redu

BY PET MELLIZA/ THE BEEKEEPER   Yours truly have been long been absent from  the La Paz Public Market for months to confirm it, but I agree with columnist Peter JImenea who says that some tenants already left the place as seen in stalls  that shut down.   We have reasons to believe that especially after listening to other tenants of public markets in Iloilo City who bear the common burden of being squeezed to pay “goodwill money” to renew their lease contracts with city hall.   According to them, city hall last year amended the tax ordinance that increased their burden. Under the old ordinance, tenants were charged “franchise fee” fee only once. Thereafter, they  pay monthly rents. Their yearly renewals are granted if they fully paid their monthly obligations.  No good will fee was charged.   Only applicants, not existing tenants,  were charged franchise fee.  In contrast, t he amended ordinance not only raised the rate but also, exacted “good will money” ---  P5,000, P10,000 or P

BY PET MELLIZA  THE BEEKEEPER   Every time somebody mutters “my city my pride”, I am reminded by the Iloilo City abattoir which is an embarrassment. It is riddled with corruption and fraught with risks to public health. It’s dirty and Pavianhons tag it an undesirable neighbor due to its solid and liquid wastes seeping to ditches instead of septic tank. Whoever may sit as new mayor of Iloilo City come July, must  investigate the abattoir that incidentally sits in of Pavia town, Iloilo, not Tacas, Jaro City. Government poured some P80 million to erect and jump start it in 2008. Its operation was delayed by typhoon Frank that devastated Iloilo City in June 2008. While families grieved for the 300 or so victims of the calamity, the city government re-gravelled the access road with the abattoir crew helping. Despite lack of funds, its head, Dr. Tomas Forteza, jump-started the abattoir by spending his own money to buy butcher’s knives, buckets,boots,  aprons,  hard huts and chopping

BY PET MELLIZA/ THE BEEKEEPER Taxpayers benefited nothing from the act of police operatives who arrested Rommel Ynion in the midst of the rally of the Gonzalez-Ynion-Ganzon group at Bitoon, Jaro last May 1. The disruption of the caucus merely raised brows on the manner the arrest warrant was served and ignited the cry political persecution. Ynion is challenging Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog on May 13. Taxpayers’ money was expended just to defray the expenses of the PNP intel team based at Camp Crame who clandestinely flew all the way from Manila to Iloilo. The incident merely catapulted Ynion to a higher level of political stardom, at the expense of taxpayers. Not even actress Solenn Heusaff who was sued by the BIR for the same crime was accorded that rare privilege of being arrested at night, on a holiday (May 1 is International Labor Day), and in the middle of the show, all to ensure that no court was open and the accused must, while being detained for the night, wa