Half-cup rice unpalatable to some
ILOILO City – Humble
carinderias, popular fast food chains and classy restaurants in this city may soon be required to give customers the option of ordering half cup of rice if a proposed ordinance for such is approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
The proposal, however, has gotten mixed reactions from Ilonggos interviewed by this paper.
According to the owner of Carmelo’s eatery in Barangay San Nicolas, La Paz district, it would be bad for her small business.
“We’re selling a cup of rice for only P5. How much would half a cup cost? How can we keep our carinderia afloat with such a very low
price,” said Gloria Carmelo, 57.
Other carinderias sell a cup of rice for P10, said Carmelo, so they could probably afford to slash the cost of their cup of rice by 50 percent and still make some profit.
The 41-year-old Dorothy Alagao of Barangay Fundidor, Molo district is against the proposal, too.
“Palakaon ko ‘ya (I’m a heavy rice eater),” she told Panay News.
A watch repairwoman, Alagao said she could consume two cups of rice each meal.
Meanwhile, Rowena Paredos, manager of La Paz Kitchenette at the La Paz district public market, expressed support to the half-cup rice proposal. She said they were already offering such option to customers seeking additional rice serving but not a full cup of the staple.
The 22-year-old Lanie Provido welcomed the proposal, too, for health reasons. She’s watching her weight.
A resident of Barangay Sambag in Jaro district, Provido also said not all people can consume a full cup of rice.
Councilor Ely Estante, proponent of the half-cup rice serving, said his proposal was a response to the Department of Agriculture’s appeal for an end to rice wastage.
Myriam Layaoen, director of the Agriculture department’s Be RiCEponsible campaign, urged the city government to enact an ordinance that would help lessen rice wastage.
Nine grams, or almost 2 teaspoons, of rice were wasted by every Filipino every day in 2008, said Estante, citing a study.
The wasted rice may feed almost 2.5 million Filipinos annually and was equivalent to more than 12 percent of Philippine rice imports in the same year, he said.
Recently, Sen. Cynthia Villar got flak for suggesting a ban on the popular “unlimited rice” offer of restaurants and fast food chains.
Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, made the call in a committee hearing as she urged food establishments to encourage people to eat more vegetables instead.
“You know, the findings in other countries, mas better ang diet nila. Hindi masyadong maraming rice, may vegetables. If you really ask doctors, that’s a better diet,” Villar said.
She later clarified that she was just expressing her concern because eating too much rice is one of the main causes of high blood sugar that leads to diabetes.
Villar said she knew she could not stop people from ordering unlimited servings of rice “as the Philippines is a nation of rice eaters.”/