- Distributed by The Associated Press

The administration must pay attention to the warnings made by Dr. He Changchui, assistant director general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific.

He tells the world that the economic meltdown now afflicting the globe is gripping mankind with ''the twin crises of finance and food.''

The world, he warns, will be ''far worse'' than the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Black October of 1987 or the Asian Economic Collapse of 1997.

That is because the financial crisis is accompanied by ''high food prices and food shortages, and the steady erosion of agriculture and rural economies.'' He says.

''Food availability and affordability are the bedrocks of any society. During the Great Depression, Black October and the Asian Economic Crisis, food prices were at historic lows. No matter how dire the situation, food was still plentiful and cheap. Today, the story is different.'' ...

The Department of Agriculture and the various agencies of the government as well as the private sector must do everything they can to restore our farming sector to the high productive level it used to enjoy during the Marcos years. We are now already exporting some corn. We should also become rice exporters. But that should mean, first of all, that all Filipinos are having their rice, vegetable and fruit-product needs fulfilled.