MANILA, Philippines – Some of Zamboanga City’s poor have been driven to begging and selling sexual favors by their need to cope with sharp increases in prices of food, mainly rice.
Marilou Abat, 26, who makes a living collecting recyclable materials, said her 3-year-old daughter and her 13-year-old son had learned to beg to help raise money for the family.
Eufemia (not her real name) said she became a part-time sex worker to support her family.
“If only food prices are not increasing, I will not do this,” she said.
Teodora Matias, 37, a retail storeowner in Barangay Baliwasan Chico and mother of four, said she asked her two daughters to accept laundry or nanny jobs.
“This is the worst situation and the very, very difficult situation we are in now forces women, mothers and their children to sacrifice further,” said Hadja Zenaida Lawi, executive director of the Muslimah Resource Center.
Muslimah Resource Center provides small loans and has more than 1,000 women members in Zamboanga and Sulu.
Irony
In Bansalan, Davao del Sur, officials said they saw irony in rice prices reaching P50 per kg in a town that is a major rice-producing area.
Mayor Edwin Reyes said one reason for the steep price increases could be hoarding by some traders.
Reyes said it was ironical that residents of this town, which has some 2,000 hectares of rice fields, had to pay more for their rice than consumers in areas that are not rice producing.
The Inquirer learned that while rice was selling for P50 per kg, traders buy palay at P14-P16 per kg.
In Digos City, rice sells for P47-P49 per kg. Digos, though, is not a major rice producer.
Some traders are also believed to be shipping rice stocks elsewhere to earn more.
Armando Florentino said he felt helpless against the high prices, accusing the National Food Authority (NFA) of failing to help consumers.
Florentino said limiting the amount of rice poor consumers could buy to 1 kg per buyer didn’t help any.
Common occurrence
Lita del Socorro, another resident, said it was common for government outlets to run out of cheap rice.
Nestor Majaducon, NFA provincial manager, said government stores receive only 10 bags of rice a day.
He said this was to keep supply intact for lean months, when harvests stop.
In Carmen, Davao del Norte, also considered the province’s food basket, rice was selling for P45-P47 per kg.
“Many are poor here and cannot afford commercial rice anymore,” said Datu Jerry Cede Santos, of the Ata-Manobo tribe.
He said lack of supply in NFA stores has made the situation worse.
In one outlet, he said, at least 300 families queue for five sacks of rice.
“It’s really not enough,” he said.
Some relief came in Tagum City as rice prices there eased to P35-P37 per kg.
But retailers there said this was temporary as prices were likely to reach P50 per kg again.
Bryan Signado, a store attendant, said a lot depended on traders.
Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy said regulating prices was not an option since traders also have to make a profit.
Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said he asked agriculture officials to investigate the cause of the steep price increases.
Speculation
Sajid Druz Ali, ARMM agriculture secretary, said price speculation was the likely culprit.
ARMM last year produced 545,211 metric tons of rice. The region, said Ali, was 64.8 self-sufficient in rice until the price crisis struck.
In San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, officials said they would inspect rice warehouses.
Prices of rice in the province reached P37-P45 per kg.
Jose Baron, development specialist of the Department of Trade and Industry in the province, said traders offering P21 per kg for palay could be causing the price surge.
Some traders, he said, offered to buy palay for P2,000 per 50-kg sack.
In General Santos City, the NFA simply said it could do nothing about the price surge.
Marfin Tan, a grains trader, said there was no shortage so it came as a surprise to him why prices were surging. Aquiles Z. Zonio, Julie S. Alipala, Frinston Lim, Orlando B. Dinoy and Chris V. Panganiban, Inquirer Mindanao
