Philippine senator calls for suspension of biofuels act

Yahoo News 16 Apr 08;

A senior Philippine senator on Wednesday called for the suspension of the country's law promoting biofuels, passed last year, in view of the rising price of rice in this country.

"If we implement the biofuels act today, we could jeopardise our need to increase the production of food for our people.

"I will eat rice but I cannot eat oil or diesel," said Senator Rodolfo Biazon, vice-chairman of the Senate agriculture committee, speaking to the press at a forum of legislators.

The biofuels act, passed amid much fanfare and praise from environmentalists, mandates the use of biodiesel or ethanol and provides incentives for production of biofuels.

The law was passed to ease the country's dependence on imported oil but is still being fully implemented because the infrastructure is not yet in place to produce and process biofuels.

In recent months the Philippines has been struggling with the rising international price of rice, which is the national staple food.

The country, which cannot produce enough rice, is one of the world's largest importers of the food.

Biazon said Congress can pass a joint resolution calling for the suspension of the law but asked President Gloria Arroyo to declare her support for such a move.