Manila - Deposed Philippine president Joseph Estrada on Friday distributed bags of rice to slum dwellers in Manila as he blamed the skyrocketing cost of the staple on his successor's neglect of agriculture.

Estrada, who has been convicted of plunder but pardoned by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, gave away rice and canned goods to residents of the Tondo slum district on the eve of his 71st birthday.

He criticized the Arroyo administration for abandoning his government's food security programmes and instead opting to import rice and other foods.

"This government has been a burden to the people," he said. "It has made a crisis out of everything. It made a crisis out of rice. Everything now seems to be in crisis."

"When I became president, I immediately attended to agriculture, laying down farm-to-market roads and irrigation," he added. "During my time, there was no rice crisis."

The Philippine government is importing 2.1 million tons of rice this year to ensure that there is enough supply. It has also assured the public that there was no supply shortage despite rising prices.

The government has also earmarked more than 1 billion dollars to boost rice and food production and declared war against rice hoarders, who have been blamed for creating artificial shortages.

The measures were enacted as rice prices rise worldwide as rice consumption has outpaced production, more agricultural production is devoted to crops for biofuels and commodity prices in general have risen.

Estrada was elected president by a landslide in 1998. His six-year term, however, was cut short when he was ousted in 2001 over allegations of massive corruption.

In September, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for plunder or theft of public funds in excess of 1 million dollars, but Arroyo pardoned Estrada a month later.

His supporters have launched a signature campaign to persuade the former action-movie star to ran for president again in 2010 despite warnings by legal experts that he is already disqualified under the constitution, which bans re-election of presidents. (dpa)