Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnie Teves is appealing to the national government to prioritize feeding hungry Filipinos over tackling "other problems".
Teves made this call in the backdrop of his criticism against Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos and the method he is using to cleanse the Philippine National Police (PNP) of illegal drugs.
At the same time, prices of food and basic commodities in the country like onions and eggs have already been skyrocketing.
"I'm appealing to our government. Tutulong ako sa inyo, unahin nating pakainin ng tatlong beses bawat araw ang lahat ng Pilipino bago natin atupagin ang ibang problem. Yan yung dapat priority natin (I will help you, let's prioritize feeding all Filipinos three times a day before working on other problems. That should be our priority)," Teves said in a recent press conference.
"Alam ko yan din yung priority ni President BBM (Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.), agriculture. Pakainin muna natin lahat ng Pilipino ng tatlong beses (I know that's also the priority of President BBM. Let us first feed all Filipinos three times)," he stressed.
"Ang daming pinag-uusapan, ang daming ini-issue ng ibang mga tao dyan sa gobyerno para sumikat, nakakalimutan nila ang daming nagugutom na Pilipino. Kawawa (Other people in government are discussing a lot of other issues just to get popular, and in the process lose sight of the starving Filipinos. It's a pity)," added Teves, a former deputy speaker.
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Teves had earlier assailed the DILG’s approach to ridding the PNP of personnel with links to illegal drugs. Abalos began this campaign by appealing to all high-ranking PNP officials to tender their courtesy resignations—something that the Visayas solon has called a “short cut”.
During the same presser, the outspoken Teves asked President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to tell his wards, "Walang personalan at wag gamitin, wag gumamit ng dahas at wag gumamit ng pera at power ng gobyerno para sa sarili nilang kapakanan (Don't take things personally, and don't use violence as well as the government's money and power for their own benefit)."