CHIZ URGES PALACE TO DIVERT IMPORTED RICE TO MINDANAO REFUGEES
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Opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero yesterday said the government should act immediately to divert shipments
of imported rice to central Mindanao so that the 380,000 refugees in evacuation centers won’t go hungry after
a UN agency halted its food relief operations in the region.
“We are faced with a humanitarian crisis that could become a disaster if this administration fails to act
quickly to fill in the gap left by the UN World Food Program,” Escudero.
“Part of the rice we have been shipping in from abroad can be diverted to the ports of General Santos and
Cotabato City. This will not make a dent in the NFA’s 82-day buffer stock,” he said.
He also called on the government to ensure the safety of the staff of the UN agency which suspended its
program on Wednesday after a series of bombings in Cotabato and Iligan cities that killed six and wounded
dozens of other people.
At the same time, Escudero reiterated his call for the resumption of talks between the government and Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) even as he condemned the brutal terrorist attacks which have mostly killed
civilians.
“We are now reaping the results of a failed peace policy. The old ways of thinking have not worked. Perhaps
it is time for the people to find novel ways to stop the bloodletting,” he said.
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CHIZ: OF FAILED PARKING LOT BOMBINGS AND PATHETIC BONERS
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Opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero yesterday slammed government for its futile attempts to sow fear and
confusion and force its way into the headlines by coming up with farcical incidents that only serve to
underscore its fast-eroding credibility.
“One need not be a rocket scientist to deduce the connection between the series of explosions in Mindanao
and the supposedly destabilization efforts carried out by seemingly misguided souls to bomb government
buildings in Quezon City,” he said.
“It is a desperate but laughable effort to portray a doomsday scenario that is only meant to cover up the
glaring shortcomings and scandals that have rocked this administration from its first day in power.”
Escudero was referring to the successive bombing incidents in Maguindanao, Cotabato, Sulu, Iligan and
Lanao del Norte this week that have resulted in deaths and injuries to both government personnel and
civilians.
“It is all the more looking and sounding like a concerted action by some people with the sole objective of
needlessly alarming the populace,” he said “I call on the president to rein in some of her more zealous
supporters who shudder at the thought that their perks and powers will be gone in a few months, and that
they may soon have to answer to the people,” he said.
While no group or individual has taken responsibility for the bombings, government has not hesitated to cast
blame on renegade factions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other unnamed elements.
“At the end of the day, it boils down to credibility and capability, two vital ingredients of real democratic
societies that can tolerate dissent and accept responsibility for failure. The current government does not
have both.”
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