Despite being an agricultural country, the Philippines still imports rice and pork because local production can’t keep up with demand.
One senator just has the perfect solution towards rice self-sufficiency: ban white rice. She unveiled her proposal as she chowed down a plateful of macaroni and breaded fried fish (see photo).
Cynthia Villar believes that Filipinos should eat less, and shift to brown rice. So she wants to ban white rice altogether.
In the interim, she wants Filipino restaurants to stop offering “extra” or “unlimited” rice on their menu.
“Hindi na uso ang mestiza,” villar says, referring to the Filipino aversion to fair skin, as opposed to brown complexion, known in the local dialect as “kayumanggi.”
The reality is, brown rice is more nutritious so Villar might have a point there, but it is also more expensive.
When asked by The Adobo Chronicles what she plans to do about the country’s short supply of pork, she said that senators and representatives should be able to continue receiving DAP funds (Disbursement Acceleration Program) so that they can help their respective constitutents cope with the high cost of pork, and of brown rice for that matter.
DAP is more popularly known as pork barrel, previously ruled by the country’s Supreme Court as unconstitutional.