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Sa pagtindi ng kahirapan, patindihin ang paglaban

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Ni Nuel M. Bacarra

Sa panahon ng batas militar noong kalagitnaan ng dekada sitenta, umabot ng ₱8.00 ang isang salóp ng bigas sa Mindoro. Katumbas ang isang salóp ng 2¼ kilo o halos ₱3.55 bawat kilo. Noong umabot na sa ganito ang presyo ng bigas, may pagkakataon na may kisa o halong mais na ang kanin sa hapag. Hindi pa uso ang pangyayaring El Niño noon subalit ganito na ang larawan ng kahirapan noon sa probinsya.

Sa ngayon, ang bigas ay naglalaro na sa halos ₱55 – ₱60 kada kilo para sa regular milled at well-milled na bigas. Ang implasyon sa bigas ay umaabot sa 23.7% na pinakamataas sa loob ng 15 taon. Kasabay pa ito ng halos kada linggo na pagtaas ng presyo ng langis na nagiging sanhi naman ng pagtaas ng presyo rin ng iba pang pangunahing bilihin.

Todo-higpit na ang sinturon ng karaniwang pamilya dahil lalong tumitindi ang kahirapan. Hanggang saan ang sukdulan ng pagtaas ng presyo ng bigas? Sa mahigit limang dekadang singkad, may ibayong pagtindi ang anyo ng kahirapan sa bansa sa bawat dekada, sa bawat taon. Marami na ang hindi nag-aalmusal sa ngalan ng pagtitipid. Sa ganitong kalagayan, tila ang kulang na lamang ay ang pamiliin ng gobyerno ang taumbayan kung nais nilang kumain ng dalawang beses isang araw o minsanan na lamang.

Hagupit ng kalikasan at kainutilan

Noong nakaraang buwan mayroong magsasakang nagpakamatay na sa isla ng Mindoro dahil natuyo na lamang ang kanyang pananim dahil sa sobrang init na dulot ng El Niño at walang napakinabangan dito. Sa unang pagtaya ng Department of Science and Technology, 48 na mga prubinsya ang maapektuhan ng malalang tagtuyot at 24 naman ang makararanas ng dry spell. Tagtuyot kung dumaranas ang isang lugar ng limang sunud-sunod na buwan ng matinding init bunga ng kawalan o mas mababang porsyento ng ulan habang maikakatergorya ang isang lugar na nasa ilalim ng dry spell kung nakakaranas ng tatlong magkakasunod na buwan na ‘di umuulan.

Ang El Niño ay ang pag-init ng ibabaw ng karagatan na mataas kaysa karaniwan na temperatura sa gitna at silangang bahagi ng Pasipiko. Epekto na ito ng pagsalaula sa kalikasan ng mga tao sa kumpas ng malalaking korporasyon sa buong mundo na walang humpay na gumagamit ng fossil fuel na nagpapataas sa temperatura ng karagatan dahil sa carbon dioxide. Ang malalaking tipak ng yelo sa tuktok a talampakan ng mundo ay natutunaw na nagpapataas naman ng lebel ng tubig na nagdudulot naman ng pagbaha at pagkawala ng mga natural na tirahan ng mga hayop at halaman na nabubuhay sa tubig.

Ang El Niño at La Niña (kabaligtaran naman ng una, na mas madalas ang insidente ng pagbaha dahil sa mga bagyo at habagat) ay siklo na pamalagian nating dinaranas dahil sa pagbabago ng temparatura ng karagatan. Ayon sa mga eksperto, nagaganap ang siklo tuwing 2 – 9 na taon at tumatagal ng siyam hanggang 12 buwan. Sa anunsyo ng Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration o PAGASA noong huling kwarto ng 2023, mararamdaman ang epekto ng El Niño sa bansa sa unang kwarto ng 2024 hanggang Abril. Subalit sa pabatid nitong huling linggo ng Marso, maaaring tumagal ang El Niño hanggang Agosto kung saan ilang prubinsya pa ang makararanas ng tagtuyot at dudugtong naman ang La Niña na kailangang paghandaan ng bansa. Nitong unang linggo namanng Abril, tanging ang Batanes at Saranggani na lamang ang deklaradong mga prubinsyang hindi tinamaaan ng El Niño sa buong bansa.

Pero sa halip na paghandaan ito nang lubos ng pamahalaan sa pamamagitan ng mas masusing syentipikong pag-aaral sa mga epekto nito at kahandaan na alalayan ang mamamayan sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay ng ayuda sa mga apektadong sektor laluna sa mga magsasaka, mas minabuti nitong pairalin ang korupsyon at kalingain ang mga rice trader kaysa sa mga magsasaka at iba pang sektor na ibayong nagpasiklab sa damdamin ng mga mamamayang direktang apektado ng sakuna.

Ang mga kahingian ng sektor-magsasaka sa panahon ng El Nino. (Larawan ni N. Bacarra/Kodao)

Singil sa Anomalya

Sa ganitong dinaranas na sakuna, litaw ang tagibang na prayoridad ng gobyernong Bongbong Marcos Jr. Mas tiniyak ang katiwalian at ang pagbibigay ng pabor sa mga negosyante kaysa pagsilbihan ang maralitang mamamayan at higit na mga nangangailangan.

Pumutok ang isyu ng pagbebenta ng National Food Authority (NFA) ng mga lumang imbak na bigas kamakailan. Ibinenta ng mga opisyal ng ahensya ang 75,000 sako ng bigas sa halagang ₱25/kilo sa rice traders sa panahong ang tinging presyo ng bawat kilo ng bigas ay nasa ₱70 /kilo ayon sa imbestigasyon ng mababang kupulungan ng Kongreso. O di kaya naman kaya ay inilagak ang mga istak na bigas sa ipinagmamalaking tindahan ng Kadiwa para mapakinabangan ng maralitang mamamayan.

Hindi na ito bago sa NFA. Noong 2021, nagbenta rin ang ahensya ng 5.6 milyong sako ng bigas at apat na milyong sako noong 2022 sa rice traders. Ang kaibahan sa kasalukuyan, nasa yugto ang bansa ng pananalasa ng El Niño na disin sana’y maaaring gawing pang-ayuda sa mga biktima na dumaranas ng gutom at sa mga magsasakang matinding tinatamaan nito. Malaking tulong sa mamamayang nagugutom at kung ipinamahagi ito sa presyo na katumbas ng pagbebenta sa mga rice trader.

Hindi kayang tabunan ng diumanong mahigit isang bilyong pisong halaga ng suporta mula sa Department of Agriculture (DA) sa mga magsasaka ang katiwalian sa NFA. Sa pagkakataong ito na sinasalanta ng hagupit ng El Niño ang kabuhayan ng pinakamalaking bahagdan ng populasyon, hindi katanggap-tanggap ang kalagayan na habang nagdurusa ang mamamayan, kumikita sa katiwalian ang mga ahensya ng gobyerno at sa prayoridad na ibinibigay sa mga kasabwat sa mga maanomalyang gawain.

Nitong Abril 3, kinalampag ng mga magsasaka at mga tagasuporta nila ang tarangkahan ng pambansang tanggapan ng NFA sa Quezon City para singilin ang matataas na upisyal ng ahensya at papanagutin ang mga ito. Bukod pa rito ay humihingi ang mga magsasaka ng kumpensasyon sa pagkalugi nila dahil sa kapabayaan ng gubyerno para paghandaan ang sakuna.

“Nasaan na ang imbestigasyon na ginagawa ng Department of Agriculture at ng Kongreso na hanggang ngayon ay wala pa ring napapanagot. Hindi sapat na i-suspend ng anim na buwan ang mga namuno doon sa pagbebenta ng 75,000 bags na bigas. Yung mga ginawa din nila na pagpa-padlock sa 79 na warehouses ay hindi rin makatarungan bagkus yung mga mahigit 100,000 bags pa ng bigas sa mga warehouse na ‘yan ay kagyat nang ipamahagi sa mga biktima ng mga kalamidad kung hindi man ay direktang ibenta ito diretso sa mamamayang Pilipino na naghahanap ng mababang presyo ng bigas,” pahayag ni Cathy Estavillo, tagapagsalita ng Bantay Bigas Network noong Abril 3 sa harap ng tanggapan ng NFA.

Ang kahirapan ng mga magsasaka ay sinisingil nila dahil sa pagiging kontra-magsasaka at kontra-mamamayan at inutil na gobyerno tulad ng pahayag naman ni Danilo Ramos, tagapangulo ng Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

“Ang mga patubig, walang tubig! Kaya po mayroong dating umaani nang otsenta, ngayon ay siyam na kaban. At katulad po ng inyong lingkod, marami sa ibang lalawigan, hindi nag-ani. Wala na ngang lupa, gutóm!” ani Ka Daning.

“[D]apat po nating makita kung bakit may krisis sa pagkain, El Niño at kalamidad ay dahil mismo sa gubyernong inutil, kontra-magsasaka, kontra-mamamayan. Ang sabi ng mga magsasaka, aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo? Matagal na po naming hiling ang ₱15,000.00 na tulong-ayuda pero hanggang ngayon ay wala! Pero pag sa byahe, pag sa ChaCha (charter change) meron! Kaya mula ngayon hanggang sa hinaharap, palakasin natin ang ating paglaban! Panagutin ang rehimen!” dagdag n glider-magsasaka.

Si Ka Daning Ramos ng KMP (harap) at si Cathy Estavillo ng Bantay Bigas (likod) / Larawan ni N. Bacarra/Kodao

Tuluy-tuloy na pakikibaka

Umabot na ang pinsala ng El Niño sa agrikultura sa mahigit ₱1.2 bilyon ayon sa huling ulat nitong Abril 3 ng National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Ang halagang ito ang tinatayang katumbas ng 44,845.42 metric tons na pinsala sa agrikultural na produkto. Umaabot sa 17 lugar sa bansa ang nakakaranas ng matinding kalamidad na sangkot ang 84,731 pamilya.

Kung itatapat ang halaga ng pinsala sa ayudang ipinangangalandakan ng DA, lalabas na kulang ito batay sa aktwal na tala ng mga pinsala sa mga prubinsyang malupit na tinamaan ng sakuna. Kung ang isang bag ay umaabot ng 50 kilo, aabot ng ₱93.75 milyon ang halaga ng naibenta ng NFA kamakailan lang. Kung kukwentahin din ang naibenta noong 2021 at 2022 na umaabot sa ₱12 bilyon, malaking bagay na sana itong pagkukunan ng ayuda at kumpensasyon sa mga magsasaka sa ngayon.

Subalit hindi ganito ang kalakaran ng “korupsyon at transaksyong sindikato sa gubyerno.” Ang pondong mula sa buwis ng mamamayang Pilipino ay pribadong inaangkin ng mga sangkot na tiwaling mga opisyal sa gubyerno.

May mandato dati ang NFA na bilhin ang mga aning palay ng magsasaka na mabuting bagay sana para sa mga magsasaka. Subalit nang maging batas ang R.A. 11203 o ang Rice Tariffication Law, naging inutil ang NFA dito at naging instrumento pang lalo sa katiwalian.

Ang mga pesanteng nagprotesta sa NFA. (Larawan ni N. Bacarra/Kodao)

Pinapatay na ang mga magsasaka ng kawalan at kakulangan ng lupang masasaka dahil ang mga nagsiupong rehimen mula noong panahon ng diktadura ay kundi man mga panginoong maylupa at mga kumprador na kasabwat ng mga imperyalistang dayuhan sa pagpapanatili ng pyudal at malapyudal na kaayusan sa bansa. Hanggang ngayon ay usapin sa mga magsasaka ang paggigiit ng pagkakaroon ng tunay na reporma sa lupa. Iniaasa sa ngayon sa importasyon ng mga pangunahing agrikultural na produkto na kayang likhain dito sa bansa.

Walang ibang aasahan ang pinakamalaking pwersa sa produksyon ng bansa at iba pang sektor ng lipunan kundi ang patuloy na ipaglaban ang paggigiit ng tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industriyalisasyon. Nilalamon ang sistema ng mga imperyalistang imposisyon ng liberalisasyon, pribatisasyon, deregulasyon na lubos na ipinaghihirap ng mamamayang Pilipino at ikinayayaman naman ng papet na rehimen at mga kasabwat nila sa bansa.

Siklo ang daranasin nating natural na delubyo subalit permanente ang kahayukan sa kapangyarihan, katiwalian at kainutilan ng mga papet na rehimen. Kaya dapat tuluy-tuloy na kumiklos ang mga magsasaka at manggagawa at ang iba pang sektor para baguhin ang sistematikong pagsasamantala at pang-aaping ito sa mamamayang Pilipino. #

Farmers: BBM should leave DA as gift to Filipinos on his bday

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The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) reiterated its call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to leave the Department of Agriculture (DA) and appoint a competent full time secretary on the occasion of his 66th birthday last Wednesday.

In a statement on September 13, the farmers’ group said Marcos is not really serious in solving the problems of the agriculture sector and has proven to be incompetent at the job.

“He had been agriculture secretary for more than a year and we are seeing only bad results. He failed to fix the problems of agriculture and these only worsened,” KMP chairperson emeritus Rafael Mariano said.

“Rice prices did not go down to P20. It in fact rose to P50 to P60. There had been no relief to farmers and fisherfolk and importation has worsened. We hope he listens and steps down as DA secretary,” Mariano added.

Marcos spent his birthday in Singapore attending an Association of South East Asian Nations summit and the elitist Formula 1 Grand Prix on his second birthday in a row.

The KMP said agriculture has no hope with Marcos, adding the people are more hard up since he appointed himself agency secretary.

Various agricultural products such as rice, tomatoes, sugar, onions, chilli have experienced runaway prices under the Marcos presidency.

KMP, citing government data, said agriculture remains to be the weakest contributor to the country’s gross domestic product.

It added that the agricultural output further contracted in the second quarter of the year because of the decrease in fisheries production.

“Agricultural production weakened by 1.3% from April to June this year compared to 0.5% last year. This means that the gains of this year’s first quarter have been reversed,” KMP said.

The group further revealed that rice production has failed to increase in the past six years, averaging only -0.15% at 0.35% since 2017.

The President is being insensitive in attending the Formula 1 while the country is in crisis. It further proves he does not care about the people’s hardships brought about by runaway prices, KMP said.

KMP recalled that Supertyphoon Karding (Tropical Cyclone Noru) was barrelling towards the Philippines when he attended the Singapore Grand Prix last year. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Farmers, consumers: BBM’s rice price ceiling still too high

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Rice prices may be lowered by several pesos more than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s price ceiling of P41 to P45 per kilo of regular to well-milled varieties, farmers and consumer rights advocates said.

Following Marcos’ issuance of Executive Order 39 issued last Thursday, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said rice prices could be as low as P30 to P37.40 if only the “rule of thumb” in pricing is imposed instead.

“For example, if the rice traders bought palay at the median price of P19 to 22 per kilo, the retail prices of palay may be more than P11 lower after drying, milling, hauling and transportation expenses are factored in,” KMP said.

The said rule of thumb allows traders and retailers to earn reasonably, the group added.

KMP said Marcos was obligated to order a price ceiling after the retail prices of rice spiked to as high as P50 to P60 in the past weeks.

But beyond price ceilings, KMP said the government should dismantle the rice cartel that controls the rice industry in the country.

The Bureau of Customs has recently raided warehouses in Central Luzon it said hoards rice and manipulates rice prices.

The farmers’ group also renewed its call for the repeal of Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Liberalization Law and the restoration of the National Food Authority mandate to buy significant volumes of palay from local producers.

KMP added that the government should focus on strengthening local rice production instead of importation.

India, a traditional source of imported rice, has earlier announced it will cut back on rice exports in anticipation of lower yields because of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Consumer rights group Suki Network echoed KMP’s position that the new price ceiling is still too expensive without wage increases and financial aid to the poorest sectors.

“It will also be more helpful if the government extends genuine assistance to small farmers,” the network added.

Meanwhile, Malacanang Palace said the price ceiling shall remain in full force and effect until lifted by the President.

The President also told reporters in his briefing that he ordered the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Justice as monitoring agencies of the rice price ceilings. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Farmers warn gov’t of possible rice price manipulation schemes

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Farmers asked Congress to investigate looming rice price manipulation schemes by private traders, saying claims of P34 to P36 per kilo of palay are ridiculously high.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said it is alarmed by a rice miller’s claims that palay is being bought from P34 to P36 in Bulacan that may soon push rice prices to P60 per kilo.  

Bulacan miller Tony Santos said that farm gate prices of palay have reached such levels, a claimed backed by Federation of Free Farmers general manager Raul Montemayor in a Philippine Star interview.

The KMP however said the figures are inflated.

“[I]t is hard to believe that P34 per kilo is the prevailing price of palay when based on KMP’s monitoring…the palay price in Malolos, Bulacan is at P20 per kilo, P21 to P22 per kilo in Isabela, P20 per kilo in Mindoro Occidental,” KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos said.

Ramos added that it is not yet harvest season and they wonder where the claims are based.

 “It is in the interest of consumers and the public to know if there is a syndicated price manipulation and speculation going on to justify the increase in retail prices of rice,” Ramos said.

KMP said that while it advocates for the buying of palay directly from rice farmers at just prices, it does not agree with millers’ claims that an increase in palay prices is the ultimate reason for high rice prices.

The group said an existing cartel within the domestic rice industry—dominated by importers, traders and millers as well as corrupt officials within the Department of Agriculture—are to blame.

Failed rice importation policy

KMP pointed to the Rice Liberalization Law (RA 11203) and the government’s importation and agricultural trade liberalization policies as the culprits behind increasing rice prices.

“The government’s rice liberalization law crippled the National Food Authority’s (NFA) rice buffer stocking mandate and allowed the private sector to take over the entire rice industry, thereby putting rice farmers and consumers at the mercy of the rice cartel,” Ramos said.

KMP reiterated that the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government must do away with its importation policy especially with the very volatile rice supply and price situation after India’s export ban and strained rice supply in Asia due to the effects of El Nino.

The view is mirrored by Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women and rice watch group Bantay Bigas that also lambasted Marcos for insisting on rice importations as his last resort to the problem.

“Because the government relies on rice importation instead of letting the NFA increase its local procurement, stocks from local farmers have all been snapped up by the private traders,” Amihan secretary general and Bantay Bigay spokesperson Cathy Estavillo said.

Estavillo said rice importation is not the immediate solution. Rather, the government should look for the stocks hoarded by private traders. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Farmers tell Villar: ‘Be sincere and repeal rice tarrification law’

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The country’s biggest peasants’ organization challenged Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food chairperson Senator Villar to act against her own rice tarrification law to prove sincerity in recent pro-farmers pronouncements.

Reacting to the senator’s directives at last Monday’s budget hearing to the Department of Agriculture to realign its 2023 proposed budget to help farmers produce high-quality seeds, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said Villar should instead take a look at her pet rice importation liberalization law.

“Senator Villar can rather show her sincerity by supporting demands to review and repeal RA (Republic Act) 11203 or the rice tariffication law,” KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos said in a statement Wednesday.  

In last Monday’s hearing, Villar castigated DA for its preference for imported hybrid rice seeds over inbred and organic rice seeds, spending P7.9 billion for hybrid seeds distributed to 1.7 million farmers while only spending P3.7 billion for inbred seeds.

Villar also directed the agency to support the use of compost and organic fertilizer over expensive chemical-based fertilizers.

Fertilizer prices increased by up to 22% since 2020, severely affecting rice production and farmers’ incomes, the KMP said.

‘Hypocritical’

The group said that along with the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s Masagana 99 program, the Villar-sponsored rice liberalization program have further made rice farmers’ lives difficult.

“These two programs, implemented more than 40 years apart, have destroyed the lives and livelihood of rice farmers, and further ruined the local rice industry,” the group added.

KMP said hybrid rice propagation was the central component of Martial Law-era Masagana 99 that heavily relied on expensive imported seeds and farm inputs, which left farmers in debt.

“Up to this day, the majority of Filipino rice farmers remain dependent on the practices set by the Green Revolution and Masagana 99,” Ramos said.

Ramos added that the rice liberalization law that Villar principally authored and enacted in 2019 led to heavy income losses for rice farmers amounting to P206 billion in the past three years.  

“The failure of RA 11203 is undisputed, the influx of imported rice caused massive bankruptcies among rice farmers, due to depressed farm gate prices,” Ramos said. 

Legislators should support the genuine protection and development of the domestic rice industry. Senator Villar will remain hypocritical if she continues to support rice liberalization while espousing to advance local seeds and fertilizer production, Ramos said.

The KMP also challenged Villar to sponsor the Senate version of House Bill 405 Rice Industry Development Act or the Food Self-Sufficiency Act of 2022.

KMP said that an estimated 96% of Filipinos are rice consumers while production involves around 3.8 million rice farmers who cultivate 4.7 million hectares. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Farmers question budget cuts on irrigation and rice program equipment

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Marcos bailiwicks to get more road projects in 2023, KMP reveals

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) questioned proposed fund cuts for irrigation and equipment procurement for the country’s national rice program in next year’s proposed national budget.

The farmers’ group reported that the Department of Agriculture proposes a P211 million cut in the budget for the Irrigation Network Service from the current P932 million to P721 million in 2023.

The KMP added that the agency, led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself, proposes a 64% budget slash from the current P1.9 billion to P700 million for the Provision of Agricultural Equipment and Facilities of the ongoing National Rice Program.

Likewise, the Extension Support, Education, and Training Services budget for the National Livestock Program will be slashed by P82 million from P611 million to P529 million, the KMP said.

“These are crucial projects, activities, and programs related to the recovery of the slumped rice and livestock sectors. Why impose these budget cuts?” former agrarian reform secretary and KMP’s long-time leader Rafael Mariano asked.

Agri budget for counter-insurgency

In a statement, Mariano also said that the agency must explain why the DA’s proposed 2023 budget seem to prioritize programs that are being used for the government’s counter-insurgency project.

Among these include the budget for the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program proposed to enjoy a P251 million budget increase from P923 million to P1.1 billion next year.

SAAD, however, is not a generic DA project but was created by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 70 that also created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

“Technically, this budget for SAAD is a budget for counterinsurgency under the guise of social and economic interventions such as social preparation, production and livelihood, marketing assistance and enterprise development. We want to know, how in reality, SAAD aids in poverty alleviation of farmers and fishers when the most basic issues in rural communities are not being addressed,” Mariano said.

More agri budget for Marcos’ home regions

KMP also noted that the DA’s proposed 2023 budget seems to favor Marcos’ home regions, Ilocos and Eastern Visayas. The president’s father, Ferdinand Sr. was from Ilocos Norte while his mother is from Leyte.

“[The KMP finds] it dubious that the DA gave funding preference for the construction, repair and rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads (FMR) in key production areas in known ‘Marcos territories’ like in Regions 1 and 8,” the group said.

From P7.5 billion, the farm-to-market roads budget will increase to P13.1 billion, of which some P1.86 billion will go to Region 1 and P1.41 billion for Region 8, the group reported.

KMP said it identified more than 100 FMR projects in Ilocos Norte and Leyte provinces alone, mostly concreting of barangay roads. Each FMR project ranges from P12 million to P30 million.

KMP added that farm-to-market road projects easily become budget for “farm-to-pockets” operations.

“Sana, hindi tatambakan lang ng graba (gravel) ang isang kilometro ng kalsada tapos tatawagin nang farm-to-market road. Kailangan busisiin ang mga badyet para sa farm-to-market roads dahil dito laging may mga kumukubra,” Mariano said.

(We wish they will not just dump gravel on short stretches and already call them farm-to-market roads. There is a need to investigate the budget because corruption is rife in such projects.)

“Huge amounts are spent on roads that are repaired or rebuilt over and over, resulting in favored contractors and duplication of projects. Corruption is also a given in these projects,” the farmer-leader added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Farmers dismiss mega-farm proposal as not viable, urges lowering of prices of farm inputs instead

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A farmers’ group said the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) mega-farm project proposal is not viable without genuine land reform and subsidies for farmers, proposing the immediate lowering of prices of farm inputs instead.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said DAR’s blueprint to try to bring down rice prices to P20 per kilo as “aspired for” by incoming President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is another form of lip service and empty promise to farmers in an obvious effort to pander to the incomingadministration.

“Truth be told, these DAR officials are only attempting to score brownie points from Bongbong Marcos Jr to retain their government posts,” KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos said.

Marcos said during the recent campaign period he wishes to see rice retail prices reduced to P20, a statement he later clarified was only an aspiration.

KMP however said the dream of a P20 per kilo of rice will not happen under the government’s existing land reform program that obligates beneficiaries to pay for land amortization.

The group instead renewed its call for the DAR to cancel land amortization, grant more subsidies to farmer and reduce production costs for rice to ultimately become more affordable.

“In fact, most ARBs in rice lands still have unpaid principal amortization and cannot pay for the 6% interest per annum imposed by the government under the bogus Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP),” Ramos revealed.

Obvious pandering

In a press conference Monday, DAR Secretary Bernie Cruz proposed to consolidate small and individual rice farms into mega-farms he dubbed as the “Programang Benteng Bigas sa Mamamayan” (PBBM, PHP20 Rice for the People Program).

PBBM is an obvious reference to an acronym Marcos supporters are already using to refer to the incoming president: President Bong Bong Marcos.

“The mega farm is a cluster of contiguous farms that are consolidated to form a sizable plantation capable of producing a large volume of farm products to meet the demands of consumers,” Cruz said.

The DAR said the PBBM may start with an initial 150,000 hectares that can produce an average of 142 cavans or sacks of rice per hectare per cropping season.

The agency said it will translate to a gain of PHP76,501 annually for agrarian reform beneficiaries, adding that if approved by the incoming Marcos government, it may lower the price of rice to PHP20 and liberate the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARB) from subsistence farming.

The KMP however dismissed the proposal, proposing instead the following steps to bring down rice prices:

  1. Stop amortization payments and condone unpaid fees by ARBs;
  2. Give enough subsidies for rice production instead of loans; and
  3. Lower prices of very expensive farm inputs.

Expensive farm inputs

Photo by Jek Alcaraz/Kodao

Former DAR secretary Rafael Mariano said the government must work to bring down rice production costs to P6 to P8 per kilo from the current P12.

“DAR’s capitalist farm-model in a small, old-fashioned and archipelagic country will not work,” he added.

The former KMP chairperson said the constantly rising fuel prices add to increasing fertilizer prices, now at a “staggering” P2,800 to P3,000 per bag.

 “Expensive cost of production hurts farmers economically and pushes them deeper into debts. All farm inputs, not just fertilizer, are at a record high, or at least 12% across agricultural commodities. Industry experts forecast that fertilizer prices will remain high until petroleum prices drop,” the KMP said.

The group said the addressing the problem of expensive farm inputs is imperative and more viable than DAR’s proposal.

“President-elect Bongbong Marcos Jr should first agree and heed the broad people’s demand to suspend fuel excise taxes. Ito ang unang hakbang para kagyat na mapababa ang presyo ng langis at bilihin. Bawat OPH ay nakakaapekto sa presyo ng bigas, pagkain, bilihin at mga serbisyo,” Mariano said. (This is the first step in order to lower the prices of goods and services. Every oil price hike contributes to spikes in the prices of rice and other food items, other goods and services.)

Mariano added that DAR’s PBBM’ target of 142 cavans (7.1 metric tons) per hectare is also too good to be true and is even higher than Vietnam’s average 10-year yield per hectare average of 5.41 MT.

The Philippines’ current average yield is only 4.35 MT per hectare (87 cavans).

Mariano ppointed out that Vietnam, one of the world’s top rice-producing and exporting countries, allocates around 6% of its budget to agriculture, in contrast to the Philippines average of around 3%.

“Gusto natin ng mura at abot-kayang bigas para sa masa pero dapat gawin sa makatotohan at siyentipikong paraan at huwag daanin sa bolahan.” (We want rice that is cheaper and affordable for the people. But we want factual projections based on scientific data, instead of false promises.) # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

The ill logic of rice liberalization

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by Rosario Guzman/IBON Foundation

Runaway inflation has always been our economic managers’ alibi for liberalizing importation. Food always takes a beating from this short-sighted policy, as it has the single biggest weight of 36% in the average commodity basket.

Inflation reached its highest in a decade in 2018 upon the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, the most comprehensive and most regressive tax reform the country has ever had. TRAIN slapped value-added taxes and excises on consumer products, including unprecedentedly on all petroleum products. It reduced income taxes, which have benefited only the rich more than the middle class and the poor, as it has ultimately rebalanced income gains with higher prices.

But it was still the rice’s fault, according to our economic managers, and hastily they did push for the tariffication of the quantitative restrictions on the country’s staple. Rice bears a 9.6% weight on inflation and it is an extremely socially sensitive product on the same level as diesel that TRAIN had finally taxed; thus it has to be kept under control. That is their logic for subjecting local rice to undue competition with imported rice that is far better government protected and supported.

Wrong premises

Our economic managers would later point to decreased rice retail prices, although still higher than pre-tariffication levels, to support the argument that imports liberalization indeed benefits the Filipino consumer.   

It’s turning out to be a feeble argument, however, as the country would again see the highest food inflation in 27 months at the beginning of 2021, with meat and vegetables contributing the most. The apparent cause is government’s non-containment of the African swine fever epidemic in the hog subsector. But despite the obvious need for government intervention in domestic production, the official quick reaction is again liberalization, this time of pork imports.

The government has simply been pitting the welfare of local producers against that of the consumers, apparently in a principle of subordinating the interests of the few (the farmers) to the welfare of the many (the consumers). This is also wrongly premised on the Filipino consumers being concerned only with cheap commodities. Joblessness is at its worst level, while economic aid in the face of the pandemic has been meager. Majority of the Filipino consumers need to be productive first and earn decent incomes, or in the immediate be given economic relief, before they could truly benefit from lower prices. But government’s obsession with imports liberalization has only worsened the jobs crisis, loss of livelihoods, and farmers’ bankruptcy.

Denied reality

From 2018 to 2020, palay prices have gone down by an average of 19.5% for both fancy and other varieties. Palay prices are lower by a minimum of Php3.30 per kilo for other varieties, from a national average of Php20.06 to Php16.76 per kilo. Nine of the 17 regions have even lower palay prices than the national average. These are based on official statistics.

Field studies conducted on the first year of the rice tariffication law by Bantay Bigas, a nationwide network of rice advocates, showed farmgate prices going down to as low as Php10-15 per kilo. Palay prices in the range of Php10-14 per kilo were noted in the country’s rice bowls – Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Isabela, Ilocos Sur, Mindoro, Bicol, Negros Occidental, Capiz, and Antique. Palay prices in the range of Php11-15 per kilo were seen in Agusan del Sur, Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, and Caraga. Bantay Bigas noted that palay prices continuously declined in four consecutive cropping seasons right after the passage of the rice tariffication law.

Value of palay production went down from Php385 billion in 2018 to Php318.8 billion in 2020 despite a slight increase of 229,000 metric tons (MT) in production volume at 19.3 million MT in 2020. If the average farmgate price of Php20.06 before rice tariffication was maintained, production value would be more or less at the level of Php387 billion – thus a visible loss of Php68.3 billion in the last two years, or Php32,523 for each rice farmer.

These are based on official figures. Bantay Bigas noted that farmers in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija lost Php20,000 to Php35,000 per hectare in 2019, as farmgate prices dropped to Php14 per kilo during the dry season and Php10-13 per kilo during the wet season. Farmers in Barangay Carmen in the same municipality have mortgaged about 40% of their rice lands or an estimated 80 hectares due to depressed farmgate prices. In Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija, some rice lands near the highways were already sold at Php1 million per hectare.

In 2019, rice farmers’ net income per hectare decreased by 32% in the dry season, by 47% in the wet season, and by 38% on the average as compared to figures in 2018, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. This translated to substantially lower profitability ratio for the farmers. For every peso the rice farmer spent on one hectare, his profit declined in 2019 from 73 centavos to 53 centavos in the dry season, from 63 to 36 in the wet season, and on the average from 73 centavos to 47 centavos.

The average net income of Php21,324 in 2019 translated to Php236.93 per day in a 90-day cropping season, down from 2018’s Php34,111 or Php379.01 a day. The farmer lost Php142.08 income per day, which was way bigger than the Php4.65 per day that his family supposedly gained from cheaper rice. (Regular milled rice was reportedly cheaper by Php2.86 per kilo in 2019. The daily average per capita rice consumption is 325.5 grams or 0.3255 kilogram. Thus, 0.3255 kilogram x 5 family members x Php2.86 = Php4.65)

These are official figures. We are not even talking about rice farmers who incurred net losses.

Also incidentally, the Php236.93 income per day recorded in 2019 was short of the already incredibly low official poverty threshold of Php354 per day for a family of five. It was not even enough for the official family food threshold of Php248. The reality is undeniable: the country’s rice producers live in acute poverty and hunger, and rice liberalization is directly responsible for this irony.

The bigger picture

The rice tariffication law purports to offset these losses by allocating the tariff revenues to support farmers. We do not need to go into detail about how these are not enough or at worst tokenistic. We only need to see the trend of government’s agricultural support to conclude that the Duterte administration has put the sector aside in favor of other hollow and counter-productive budget items, including its infrastructure agenda.

The budget for agriculture in 2021 is only Php110.16 billion, merely 2.2% of the national budget. This has diminished further from the 2019 share of 2.7%, which is apparently already the largest under the Duterte administration. Including the budget for agrarian reform, the annual average allocation in 2017-2020 is only 3.6% of the national budget, the lowest in 21 years. This still got smaller at 3.2% in 2021.

The country’s rice self-sufficiency ratio has significantly gone down from 93.4% in 2017 to only 79.8% by 2019. Such increased import dependence is not even justified anymore by the goal of curbing inflation nor by inadequate supply. It is but a formed habit from chronically neglecting domestic production. To illustrate, despite the hyped increase in production volume in 2020 and even at harvest time, the Duterte government approved the importation of 300,000 MT. The pandemic has apparently prompted exporters such as Vietnam and Thailand to prioritize their domestic consumption, triggering already ingrained insecurity among importers such as the Philippines.

Also totally negating the inflation argument now is the fact that Vietnam and China have already started buying rice from India due to increased local prices. This could precipitate another fast rice inflation in the narrow global market, on which the Philippines has unduly relied at the expense of its own direct producers.

This brings us back to the bigger picture – that the farmers’ struggle for the reversal of rice liberalization and for more responsible state intervention is not just about themselves but the more meaningful future of food security and national development. #

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(A contribution to the virtual forum “Rice Tariffication Law: Two Years After” sponsored by the College of Economic Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños, 22 June 2021)

Filipino rice farmers need support, not liberalization

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by IBON Media & Communications

In a statement, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) acting secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said: “The Philippines generally does not have a natural comparative advantage in rice production compared with neighbors like Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar which all have large flat plains, fewer or no typhoons, less history of land inequality, and access to the Mekong River system, which serves as a great source of natural irrigation, as well as lower population growth rates.”

On that basis, NEDA argues that rice liberalization is the logical thing to do and that the Rice Liberalization Law (RLL, or Republic Act 11203) is already benefiting the country. The problem with this argument is that it treats food security like a game that you lose just because you do not have the right starting conditions. That’s a free market-based argument that only has a semblance of sense in economics textbooks.

In the real world, and as proven by the experience of literally every successful developed economy, comparative advantage can and should be modified with government intervention. Chua omits how government neglect and policies like the Rice Liberalization Law (RLL) are what undermine Philippine rice production and domestic agriculture. The Philippines can improve productivity, increase production, and provide enough rice for Filipinos with sufficient government support to rice farmers and the rice sector. The government’s defeatist attitude and blind surrender to market forces is the biggest reason why Philippine rice production and domestic agriculture as a whole remains so backward.

The RLL is captive to that narrow-minded thinking and just makes things worse.

Misplaced praise

NEDA hails the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF), a component of the RLL, which supposedly guarantees Php60 billion pesos from rice importation revenues for six years. RCEF will supposedly help rice farmers to modernize and innovate. This seems to be helping rice farmers.

Instead, RLL is killing the rice industry. Over a year into RLL and because of unrestrained rice importation, palay prices have fallen to as low as Php8-10 per kilo. This is a huge 50% drop from the Php20 per kilo price of palay before the law was passed. Rice farmers have cumulatively lost some Php84.8 billion in earnings in the first full year of implementation or around Php35,328 per rice farmer. Earnings are not enough to pay for the cost of production.

As a result, farmers from Philippine rice granaries such as Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Laguna and Mindanao are already thinking to stop planting rice. At least 3,000 rice mills have already stopped operating.

Farmers were facing worse prospects for selling palay even before the RLL. The government earlier clipped the powers of the National Food Authority (NFA) to influence and support the price of rice in the market by restricting the amount of palay and rice it buys locally .

RCEF claims to enhance farmers’ competitiveness through mechanization, seeds distribution and trainings. However, its coverage is actually limited and can even aggravates farmers’ indebtedness.

RCEF reportedly aims to cover 1.9 million rice farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and Department of Agriculture (DA)-accredited rice cooperatives and associations. This still leaves out at least half a million rice farmers. The Integrated Rural Development Foundation (IRDF) has for instance already estimated that the annual Php10 billion RCEF allocation will not be enough to offset the losses that RLL causes rice farmers, which it computes to be between Php60-Php110 billion.

Loans may also just worsen indebtedness if productivity or earnings do not increase much and if farmers’ expenses are still too high. Loans are too easily eaten up by production costs such as for expensive commercial seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and tools. The government does not make any effort to make these more affordable. Landless farmers may just end up using loans to pay their land rent to landlords.

These are why so many government loan programs have just kept so many farmers in a cycle of debt. The Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) and the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) also provide rural credit. RCEF and the older ACEF and SIDA reportedly make Php2.1 billion in funds available for easy credit to rice farmers. About Php2.5 billion of ACEF funds were allegedly lost to corruption in 2014. Meanwhile, stakeholders lament that SIDA funds reportedly amounting to some Php2 billion per year since 2015 have so far been underutilized.

Worsening neglect

NEDA’s negativity about the country’s rice industry glosses over the government’s accountability for the agriculture sector’s backwardness because of its long-standing neglect. Government policies on land and food such as the RLL, relying on imported agricultural products, allowing rampant land use conversion, and flawed land reform only worsen the impact of this neglect.

The agriculture sector shed over one million jobs between 2017 to 2019 which is the most jobs lost in a 3-year period in 21 years. The sector’s 2.1% average annual growth in the same period was below its 3.5% average annual growth for 70 years from 1947-2016. Agriculture’s share in gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen to its smallest in Philippine history at 7.8 percent. The agricultural trade deficit in 2018 was also the largest in the country’s history at US$8 billion.

Agriculture is still such a significant part of the economy and these signs of weakness point to how much needs to be done to bolster the sector. And yet, under the Duterte administration, the budget for agriculture and agrarian reform averaged just a measly 3.6% of the total national budget annually from 2017 to 2019. This is even slashed further to just 1.6% in 2021. This means that the government’s capacity to support farmers with facilities, subsidies and other assistance is declining.

Rice farming households are also among those who will not be getting any more cash assistance. Although agricultural production was among the least affected sectors by the pandemic, earnings from rice farming are so poor that many rural families also rely on various odd-jobs in the informal sector which have been adversely affected. Yet the proposed 2021 budget for cash assistance has been reduced to just Php9.9 billion from over Php260 billion under the emergency Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2 laws.

Support our producers

The Philippines’ annual average rice self-sufficiency ratio over the last 30 years was 91% and the country was 93% rice self-sufficient as of 2017. Yet rice can be much cheaper and the country can be fully self-sufficient if only there was enough support, subsidies and facilities for the country’s 2.4 million rice farmers. We do not have to import our staple food and rice farmers can have decent incomes.

Why do we have to risk not having rice on the table from rice-exporting countries stopping exports to make sure that they have enough to feed their own people? How sure are we that the price of rice will remain stable if domestic production remains backward and global rice prices are volatile?

Why make our farmers suffer? Along with other producers, they provide the nation with food to eat, yet they are among the poorest.

The government is liberalizing the critical rice sector out of blind adherence to so-called free market and globalization policies. All this does is create opportunities for giant agribusiness corporations to make even more profits from selling their expensive, chemical-laden, unhealthy, and environmentally-destructive products.

Filipino farmers have to deal with so many man-made woes aside from the vagaries of the weather. Yet they are not passive to these. Farming communities nationwide practice sustainable agriculture. These should be recognized and supported. Indigenous peoples’ schools teach organic agriculture and oppose corporate encroachment on their lands. These should be hailed not vilified or shut down.

Peasant organizations struggle for their own land to till. They deserve to be given these as well as given the means to make these productive. Precarious rural incomes and livelihoods should become a thing of the past. And, as every Filipino deserves, farming communities should have decent education, health and housing as well as the conveniences of water, electricity, telecommunications and transport. In all of these, the government’s role in running an economy for the people is the most important intervention of all. #

‘Day of Defiance’ ng magsasaka sa Mendiola, naningil kay Duterte

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Pinangunahan ng Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas ang unang kilos protesta sa Mendiola simula ng pandemyang coronavirus bilang ‘Day of defiance’ sa Buwan ng Magsasaka noong Oktubre 21, 2020.

Isang ‘Hukumang Magbubukid’ ang kanilang isinagawa kung saan hinatulan nilang “guilty” si Duterte dahil sa anila’y kriminal na kapabayaan at pasismo. Kinondena nila ang Rice Tarrification Law at pagpaslang sa halos 300 mga magsasaka sa ilalim ng administrasyong Duterte. (Bidyo ni Joseph Cuevas/Kodao)