Manila,
Philippines — The price of rice is skyrocketing
all over the world. This trend will continue
until the end of the year, and it is causing
panic in many Asian countries, including the
Philippines.
Why is rice
getting more expensive? The rice supply is
decreasing. Floods in many Asian countries have
affected the rice output in the region. Rice
exporting nations like Thailand and Vietnam have
also reduced their exports to prioritize their
local needs. On the other hand, demand for rice
has been increasing, especially in India and
China.
The
Philippines is one of the top importers of rice
in the world. Rice is a politically sensitive
commodity in this country. It is not surprising
that reports of a rice shortage have energized
political debate and public concern regarding
the economic policies of President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo.
If the global
supply of rice is dwindling, what is being done
to increase local production? In the first
place, why is the Philippines, which is
predominantly an agricultural nation, importing
rice from other countries?
An article
entitled "Food Security and Rice" by Dr. Onofre
Corpuz provides some historical background on
the rice shortage in the Philippines. The
article mentions the policies of the government
which have weakened the local rice industry.
According to
Corpuz, the annual shortages in rice production
should not be described as "crises." The
Philippines has been importing rice since the
1870s -- this is more than 130 years. He blames
government planning on food security for the
shortages in rice production.
When Spain
decided to open Philippine ports in 1835, it
allowed its colony to trade non-rice products to
other countries. There was a high demand for
cane sugar, molasses, indigo, abaca, tobacco and
coffee. Rice farmers began to plant these food
items, and by 1870 there was already a rice
shortage in the country. The Philippines began
importing rice from Indochina. During the 1890s,
the Philippines was importing 45,000 tons of
rice annually.
Corpuz also
mentioned the following reasons for the rice
shortage during the Spanish era:
1. A primitive
rice culture, from land preparation to
harvesting;
2. A feudal
system since the Spanish conquest. Families who
owned small plots did not enjoy property rights;
3. A religious
culture that meant 100-120 days of "enforced
idleness," since work was banned during Sundays,
town feasts and church holidays; and
4. Farmers or
sharecroppers in haciendas (plantations) tilled
small parcels of land yielding low output, thus
preventing any savings. The farmers were always
in debt, and the Spanish government had no
assistance program for them.
After the
Revolution of 1896 and the subsequent
Philippine-American War, rice production was
very low. Many lands had been idled. The
population of carabao – water buffaloes that
helped till the land -- was reduced. And many
agricultural workers died during the war.
The U.S.
civilian government instituted economic measures
to cope with the low rice ouput. It fixed
prices, bought foreign rice and undertook the
distribution of rice down to the barrio, or
district, level. From 1901-36, the colonial
government bought 335.5 million pesos worth of
rice.
Corpuz summed
up the official policy of the U.S. government on
agriculture: Producing the export crops offered
better returns than producing the country's rice
requirements domestically; therefore, the export
crop sector must be promoted, and, in the event
of rice shortages, foreign rice was to be
imported at as cheap prices as possible.
This led to
the cultivation of more land for producing
sugar, abaca and coconut -- which produced raw
materials needed by U.S. industries. These
products were allowed to enter the U.S. market
without quota and duty-free.
The colonial
regime neglected to provide rice farmers with
technological programs to increase rice yields.
U.S. officials collaborated with local landlords
in denying the right of small farmers to obtain
property rights to their lands.
In 1931
Philippine Agriculture Secretary Rafael Alunan
reported that Indochina nations produced 2,200
kilos of rice per hectare, while the Philippines
produced only 1,225 kilos. He also claimed that
the Philippines was behind Java by 30 years in
terms of scientific and technological support
for agriculture.
Corpuz could
not understand the low priority given to rice
farmers despite the fact that during this
period, "the rice sector was the largest sector
in the Philippine economy in terms of value of
product, labor force engaged and number of
families dependent on the sector for their
livelihood, and hectarage covered."
Corpuz wrote
that the policies of price controls and rice
imports were done to keep rice prices low "for
the benefit of salaried government employees and
the service population of Manila, and to keep
the food costs of labor in the export
agriculture and domestic manufacturing sectors
low."
This brief
history of the rice sector can shed light on the
numerous periods of agrarian unrest in the
country. It can also correct the wrong notion
that the Philippines was a rice exporting nation
or that it has been teaching other Asians how to
increase rice productivity.
The article
can help explain the rice and food shortages
that the Philippines are experiencing today.
Something is wrong with an economic policy that
prioritizes the planting of cash crops to be
exported to other countries over the planting of
food crops needed by the people who are
suffering from hunger.
Instead of
increasing local rice production, the government
is dependent on imported rice. Since joining the
World Trade Organization in 1995, the
Philippines has become Asia's top rice importer
with average annual imports of over 1 million
metric tons.
Rice lands are
also disappearing because of land conversion.
The government today, like the Spanish and
American colonial governments of the past, has
been persuading farmers to plant cash crops and
other export products. Big landlords are also
converting farmland into golf courses,
residential villages, and agro-industrial parks
to apply for exemption from the land
distribution program of the government.
The rice
problem is made worse by rice smuggling.
Unscrupulous rice traders collude with
politicians and agricultural officials in
hoarding rice supplies. This creates an
artificial crisis which jacks up the price of
rice. Corruption is also to be blamed. In the
2004 elections, President Arroyo distributed
millions in fertilizer funds to her loyal
supporters. The money could have been used to
improve rice productivity.
Rice is the
staple food of Filipinos. Remove it from the
tables and there will be mass unrest. Blaming
the weather and the limited global supply to
explain the rice shortage is not enough. The
government has to abandon its agricultural
liberalization program and its overdependence on
rice imports. The government must adopt
emergency measures to increase the rice output
of farmers. The time has come to implement a
genuine agrarian reform.
--
(Mong Palatino
is a youth activist, Global Voices correspondent
and news editor of Yehey!, a Philippine-based
web portal. He can be reached at mongpalatino@gmail.com
and his Web
site is www.mongpalatino.motime.com. ©Copyright
Mong Palatino.)
