The promise of Rice Liberalization Law (RLL) to aid both the Filipino farmers and consumers falls short as it devastates the palay industry and the livelihood of local rice farmers.
Fifty-eight-year old Dominador Abarcar’s outcry are the lack of irrigation in their farming land and the incessant rice imports which continuously strike heavy blows in the price of his palay.
“Kasi sa dami ng mga [iniimport na bigas dito], naaapektuhan kami dito kasi nako-kontrol yung price ng palay dito sa amin,” the farmer from San Nicolas, Pangasinan told TomasinoWeb in a phone interview.
He said that they were left with no choice but to trade with the buyers in their area from whom they have loans because they needed the money for their livelihood.
“The Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) had to be enacted to liberalize the importation of rice with tariff…allowing the Philippines to limit rice imports for a specific period of time in order to give the Philippines enough time to make our rice farmers competitive,” Senator Cynthia Villar, the primary author of RLL, said in a statement sent to TomasinoWeb.
“The rice farmers will benefit by reducing their production costs, increasing their farm yields, and ultimately raising incomes,” she said.
10-billion pesos, according to Villar, will also be allotted for rice farmers through the creation of Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) under RLL. This includes farm equipment and technology, assistance programs, irrigation projects, and fertilizers.
In addition to RCEF, excess to the tariff collected by the Bureau of Customs from rice importers beyond the 10 billion pesos will be distributed to rice farmers in the form of unconditional cash transfer.
“[Y]ung sa irrigation wala ho eh. Walang nagpopondo sa amin,” Abarcar said when asked about how the local government acts on their irrigation problems.
For him, the adverse effects of RLL which now burden many farmers like him will only be resolved if the entry of imported rice will cease and if the National Food Authority (NFA) will take in charge of the palay trade in the country.
“Ang gusto namin sana totoo yung sinasabi ni Rodrigo Duterte na…wala nang papasok na imported na bigas dito sa amin… na hahawakan na ng NFA yung sa magsasaka,” Abarcar said.
Farmers from Western Samar have also been lamenting over the same absence of government assistance after the devastation brought by El Niño last year.
“Nagpupunta sila doon [sinasabing] tutulungan kaming magsasaka. Tinatanong ko nga isa isa kung ano [ang] ikaaangat ng mahihirap na magsasaka. Ang sinasabi [nila] bibigyang puhunan para maka-angat naman,” farmer Allan Labong said. “[Hanggang] ngayon hindi pa naman ‘yon dumadating.”
In an official statement released by Stand with Samar-Leyte Network, Eastern Visayas region was once the primary source of copra and palay but now it has been experiencing a decrease in production since 2013 after the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda.
“What affects the farmers the most is the all-time low prices of their copra and palay [which] now plummeted at 10 pesos and below [and there] is nothing else to be blamed for this but the anti-farmers program Rice Tariffication Law and the perpetual negligence of the government towards the agriculture sector…” it said.
Agricultural crisis
Research group IBON media said that government’s “long-time neglect and chronically low prioritization” of the agriculture sector gave rise to the agriculture crisis.
“This is in line with government’s advancement of neoliberal policies favoring local and foreign big business. The Duterte government continues this by giving minimal support to the agriculture sector.” IBON said.
Signs that the crisis is worsening, according to IBON, include the declining share in gross domestic product and agricultural productivity per capita, increasing import dependence, rising trade deficit, and widespread rural poverty.
“The agriculture sector’s share in the economy has [shrunken] from over 40% in the 1960s to less than 10% in 2018,” they said.
Reduction of all forms of loans, according to IBON, including amortization for awarded lands, and substantial increase in support and subsidies for the agriculture and agrarian reform sectors are the immediate steps that should be done by the government to alleviate the agriculture crisis.
“It should also suspend, and eventually repeal, policies like the Rice Liberalization Law, that are harming domestic production and farmers’ livelihoods,” they added.
“But to truly strengthen domestic agriculture, [the] government needs to implement long-term policies that prioritize rural development over big business interests.”
‘Man-made calamity’
Civic leaders expressed their resentment and disapproval of the RLL in several interviews with TomasinoWeb during a farmers’ rally in Mendiola last October 2019.
For former representative of Anakpawis party-list and chairman of the farmers militant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano, the RLL is a “catastrophic man-made calamity” as it destroys the livelihood of farmers and the agriculture sector in which the country’s staple food is sourced.
“Talagang salot ‘yan, hindi lamang sa kabuhayan ng ating mga magsasaka—pangunahin ‘yon—kung hindi salot ‘yan sa lokal nating produksiyon ng palay, bigas, at pagkaing butil sa bansa, bilang staple food natin ‘yan,” Mariano said.
He also mentioned that the RLL itself violates the constitution: “…Sa 1987 Constitution, malinaw doon na may pertinenteng probisiyon [na] nagtatadhanang ‘the state shall defend the right of a family to a family-living wage and income.’ ‘Di ba labag ‘yon?”
“Sa declaration of principle and state policies na nagsasabi yung Section 19: ‘The state shall develop a self-reliant and independent national economy effectively controlled by Filipinos.’ ‘Di ba labag ‘yang pinirmahan ni Duterte na ‘yan?” he added.
Rice insufficiency
According to IBON, Duterte government has painted a picture that the country can never be rice self-sufficient.
“Rice import dependency ratio declined from 9% in 1990 to 5% in 2016. But this rose to 6.6% in 2017 and is expected to be higher due to the influx of rice imports under the Rice Liberalization Law,” they said.
Villar stated otherwise: “We are not depending on rice imports. The RCEF will enable the 947 rice producing towns to mechanize by giving them machines at the rate of P5B/year where each town shall be receiving P5M a year for the next six years.”
“Filipino rice farmers will become more competitive and the Philippines will become rice sufficient,” she added.
Mariano similarly stressed that if the palay industry dwindles amid a subsequent global food crisis, the local food security will be at risk.
“Hindi tayo dapat umasa sa pandaigdigang pamilihan kasi kahit may dolyar tayo…kung wala ka namang maangkat na bigas—Traditionally itong mga rice exporting countries malaunan niyan, ‘pag tinamaan din itong climate change, bumaba ang kanilang lokal na rice production, so maghihigpit ‘yan at hindi na rin sila mag-eexport ng kanilang bigas,” he said.
IBON maintained that RLL jeopardizes the country’s food security: “The Philippines has now embarked on imports liberalization of its staple – a dangerous path not just for the country’s food security, but more importantly, for that elusive economic development.”
NFA’s road to demise
Aside from the “drought” in support and subsidy for the farmers, Mariano said the “neoliberal economic policies na liberalization, deregulation, privatization” of the RTL will soon lead to the privatization of the NFA.
Mariano and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes expressed the same sentiments that the RLL should be revoked to regulate again the rice import and called for the strengthening of NFA for it to influence palay price.
“Ang first thing na kailangan gawin is to reverse the decline dun sa livelihood. So tatanggalin mo yung Rice Tariffication Law [at] i-reregulate mo yung import. Puwede magpasa ng legislation that can strengthen the NFA. Increase its budget and its purchasing [capacity] para sa domestic rice producers,” Reyes said.
“Kailangan ng NFA ang 40 billion pesos para at least mabili niya at least yung 10 percent ng total palay production natin sa bansa,” Mariano said.
Mariano explained that there should be a “floor price” in the price of rice and palay to avoid too much fluctuation because there is no reason for the price of local rice to increase.
“Dahil ang rule of thumb diyan, ‘pag bumili ka ng 20 pesos per kilo ng palay, multiplied by 70 percent—‘yon na yung dagdag na cost to produce one kilo of rice—so 14 pesos. Idadagdag mo lang 14 pesos sa 20 pesos, so dapat presyo ng bigas 34 pesos […] may kita na ang retailers. […] Eh magkano presyo ngayon?…38 pesos to 44. Walang dahilan para tumaas yung presyo ng bigas,” he said.
“Kung NFA naman ang bibili no’n, puwede pa rin. Kung well milled rice, binili mo ng locally produced, P20 clean and dry sa magsasaka, so puwede mong ibenta pa rin ng P30 ang release price kung well milled rice, at P25 per kilo kung regular milled rice. May subsidy,” he said. “Yung subsidy na ‘yon ituring na social cost, hindi financial losses para sa NFA,” Mariano said.
Mariano also explained that the privatization of the NFA will limit its operations because its buying of palay will be limited only to its buffer stock or the rice consumption good for 15 to 30 days, and will only serve during emergency situations. In addition, only private businesses will sell rice in the country making it difficult to know the total rice inventory of the country.
Meanwhile, UST Political Science Department Chairperson Asst. Prof. Dennis Coronacion, Ph.D. said that removing NFA will also remove the regulating mechanism or office in the country’s agricultural sector.
“Ang purpose naman kasi ng NFA is to regulate ‘yung market. Probably ‘yung regulation mechanism or office, ‘pag tinanggal mo wala nang magre-regulate. Who else will set the price? You don’t expect the market in setting the price or prices to think of the welfare of the consumers. […] It’s the role of the state,” Coronacion told TomasinoWeb in an exclusive interview.
Mariano and Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estabillo also called for the enactment of laws that will truly support the agriculture of the country such as the House Bill Resolution No. 477 or the Rice Industry Development Act and Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill or the Free Land Distribution Bill.
“[At saka] lang magiging competitive ang ating magsasaka kung yung mga pangangailangan nila, yung [kasiguraduhan] dun sa lupang sinasaka nila, subsidized loans, subsidized inputs, at the same time, ay tiyakin na mataas binibili yung palay ng ating mga magsasaka sa pamamagitan ng NFA,” Estabillo said.
Build or destroy?
“Build-Build-Build” projects of the government, according to Mariano, affect much of the agriculture sector which shrink the agricultural lands in the country.
“Paubos nang paubos ang ating agricultural lands. Eh ang agricultural lands lang naman ang klasipikasyon ng lupa sa ating bansa na puwedeng…ireclassify. Eh ‘pag hindi natin pinrotektahan ‘yan mauubos yung agricultural lands natin,” he said.
“’Yang mga Build-Build projects na ‘yan na malalaking highways sumasagasa sa ating mga productive agricultural lands. Lalo na yung mga irrigated rice lands natin. Eh dito sa norte meron tayong NLEX, SCTEX, TPLEX… Babagtasin no’n humigit kumulang 400 hectares of productive rice—irrigated rice lands,” Mariano added.
Women farmers, affected families
For Estabillo, who is also the secretary-general of the national federation of peasant women AMIHAN, the “all-time-low” palay price affect not just the farmers’ livelihood but also displaced women farmers.
“‘Yung kababaihang magsasaka marami ang umaalis sa kanilang komunidad para maghanap ng mapagkakakitaan sa mga bayan-bayan kahit na katulong, labandera, nagtitinda-tinda. At saka ang masakit, siyempre, iniiwan nila yung mga anak,” she said.
Aside from affecting their families, there is also a possibility of farmers losing their lands due to the continuous deficits in their palay production and livelihood.
“Andun din yung tendency na nare-remata yung kanilang mga bukid dahil naisangla [ito] para makakuha ng puhunan, para makapagtanim ng palay. Pero dahil dalawang beses na silang luging-lugi, mas mataas yung porsyento na nareremata at naibebenta na nila yung kanilang mga bukirin,” Estabillo said.
“Ang usapin sa pagkain ay usapin ng buong mamamayang Pilipino. […] Sana maging bahagi [tayo] dun sa iba’t ibang kampanyang inilulunsad ng ating mga magsasaka dahil tanging sa pagpapatupad ng tunay na reporma sa lupa maa-attain natin yung kasiguraduhan natin sa pagkain,” she added.
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