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Why a rice shortage in the Philippines?

By MONG PALATINOColumn: PeripheriesPublished: April 02, 2008

Font size:Manila, Philippines — The price of rice is skyrocketing all over theworld. This trend will continue until the end of the year, and it is causing panic inmany Asian countries, including the Philippines.Why is rice getting more expensive? The rice supply is decreasing. Floods inmany Asian countries have affected the rice output in the region. Rice exportingnations like Thailand and Vietnam have also reduced their exports to prioritizetheir 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 politicallysensitive commodity in this country. It is not surprising that reports of a riceshortage have energized political debate and public concern regarding theeconomic policies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.If the global supply of rice is dwindling, what is being done to increase localproduction? In the first place, why is the Philippines, which is predominantly anagricultural nation, importing rice from other countries?An article entitled "Food Security and Rice" by Dr. Onofre Corpuz provides somehistorical background on the rice shortage in the Philippines. The article mentionsthe policies of the government which have weakened the local rice industry.According to Corpuz, the annual shortages in rice production should not bedescribed as "crises." The Philippines has been importing rice since the 1870s --this is more than 130 years. He blames government planning on food security forthe shortages in rice production.When Spain decided to open Philippine ports in 1835, it allowed its colony totrade non-rice products to other countries. There was a high demand for canesugar, molasses, indigo, abaca, tobacco and coffee. Rice farmers began to plantthese food items, and by 1870 there was already a rice shortage in the country.The Philippines began importing rice from Indochina. During the 1890s, thePhilippines was importing 45,000 tons of rice annually.

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Corpuz also mentioned the following reasons for the rice shortage during theSpanish era:1. A primitive rice culture, from land preparation to harvesting;2. A feudal system since the Spanish conquest. Families who owned small plotsdid not enjoy property rights;3. A religious culture that meant 100-120 days of "enforced idleness," since workwas banned during Sundays, town feasts and church holidays; and4. Farmers or sharecroppers in haciendas (plantations) tilled small parcels of land yielding low output, thus preventing any savings. The farmers were alwaysin debt, and the Spanish government had no assistance program for them.After the Revolution of 1896 and the subsequent Philippine-American War, riceproduction was very low. Many lands had been idled. The population of carabao –water buffaloes that helped till the land -- was reduced. And many agriculturalworkers died during the war.The U.S. civilian government instituted economic measures to cope with the lowrice 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 governmentbought 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'srice requirements domestically; therefore, the export crop sector must bepromoted, and, in the event of rice shortages, foreign rice was to be imported atas 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 wereallowed to enter the U.S. market without quota and duty-free.The colonial regime neglected to provide rice farmers with technologicalprograms to increase rice yields. U.S. officials collaborated with local landlords indenying the right of small farmers to obtain property rights to their lands.In 1931 Philippine Agriculture Secretary Rafael Alunan reported that Indochinanations 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 30years in terms of scientific and technological support for agriculture.Corpuz could not understand the low priority given to rice farmers despite thefact that during this period, "the rice sector was the largest sector in thePhilippine economy in terms of value of product, labor force engaged andnumber of families dependent on the sector for their livelihood, and hectaragecovered."Corpuz wrote that the policies of price controls and rice imports were done tokeep rice prices low "for the benefit of salaried government employees and theservice population of Manila, and to keep the food costs of labor in the exportagriculture 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 thePhilippines was a rice exporting nation or that it has been teaching other Asianshow to increase rice productivity.The article can help explain the rice and food shortages that the Philippines areexperiencing today. Something is wrong with an economic policy that prioritizesthe 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 onimported rice. Since joining the World Trade Organization in 1995, the Philippineshas become Asia's top rice importer with average annual imports of over 1million metric tons.Rice lands are also disappearing because of land conversion. The governmenttoday, like the Spanish and American colonial governments of the past, has beenpersuading farmers to plant cash crops and other export products. Big landlordsare also converting farmland into golf courses, residential villages, and agro-industrial parks to apply for exemption from the land distribution program of thegovernment.The rice problem is made worse by rice smuggling. Unscrupulous rice traderscollude with politicians and agricultural officials in hoarding rice supplies. Thiscreates an artificial crisis which jacks up the price of rice. Corruption is also to beblamed. In the 2004 elections, President Arroyo distributed millions in fertilizer