In yesterday’s luncheon in which the House leader presented Diouf with the Congressional Medal of Achievement, Philippine Congress’ highest award, De Venecia unveiled an initiative calling for a "summit among parliaments of the world" to enable their countries to develop rural areas.
Diouf agreed to the summit, replying to De Venecia that, "we together will organize the meeting of parliaments and parliamentarians." No date has been set yet.
The select crowd of diplomats, senior government leaders, and FAO representatives broke into applause as Diouf said "political leaders are showing the way" in global efforts to fight hunger and raise agricultural productivity.
"Human beings cannot be left hungry — it is our moral obligation to eliminate hunger," Diouf said.
The two-time FAO head said he values the role of parliaments in providing the resources to fight hunger.
In unveiling his proposal, De Venecia said that FAO under Diouf’s leadership "should call a world summit on agriculture to compel countries to allocate resources for the development of rural areas."
His initiative came just hours after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo received from Diouf FAO’s highest award, the Ceres Award, for her achievement in fighting hunger in the Philippines. Ceres in Greek mythology is the goddess of grain.
De Venecia pointed out that the House, before the Feb. 6 recess, approved the 15-year extension of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997 of which he was principal author, "because food security is a top priority" of the Arroyo government.
The extension of AFMA, de Venecia said, was a powerful initiative of the House and underlies President Arroyo’s commitment to provide continuing appropriations to modernize rural areas and expand the country’s irrigation network to increase agricultural productivity.
De Venecia also said that under President Arroyo’s leadership, the hybrid rice variety known as "Gloria rice" and hybrid corn—now propagated locally—have virtually doubled domestic rice and corn production, dramatically advancing the country’s bid for food sufficiency.
Because of the propagation of the hybrid seeds, De Venecia said Philippine rice imports dropped to half-a-million tons annually, down from one million tons in previous years.
De Venecia and Rep. Alfredo Maranon, Jr., (2nd Dist., Negros Occ.), head of the Nationalist People’s Coalition contingent in the House, presented to Diouf the Congressional Medal of Achievement for the FAO head’s role in "expanding agricultural production and lifting up rural communities....and for his unfailing commitment to the global fight against hunger." Maranon is also chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Food and fisheries.
They were joined by prominent leaders of the House, among them Rep. Generoso Tulagan (3rd District, Pangasinan), chairman of the Committee on Cooperatives Development; Rep. Clavel Martinez (4th Dist., Cebu), vice chair of the Committee on Appropriations; and Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales of the party-list Akbayan and chairwoman of the Committee on Civil, Political and Human Rights.
Among the prominent guests at luncheon in honor of Diouf were Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo, Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Rafael Seguis, Philippine Ambassador to Italy Philippe Lhuillier, Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Umberto Colesanti, Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Navrekha Sharma, and Libyan Ambassador to the Philippines Salem Adam.
