| Photo by Shayan Ghiasvand on Unsplash
According to Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Leocaldo Sebastian, as of August 2023, the Philippines has some 7.6 million metric tons (MT) of Rice — 5.7 million MT produced during the dry season and 1.9 million MT from imports. The country has enough rice supply to last for the coming months, given the previous harvest and the shipments from other countries, an official of the DA said.
This clarification became necessary after reports indicated that the National Food Authority (NFA) rice stockpile of 60,819.95 MT lasts only two days based on the daily consumption rate of 679,670 bags or 33,983.5 MT. Apparently, the NFA mandate has been reduced to emergency and disaster response.
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an independent, nonprofit research and educational institute founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations with support from the Philippine government, based in Los Baños, Laguna. Vietnam sent students to IRRI despite the ongoing Vietnam War in 1963. The Philippines was a rice exporter in 1975-1978. As late as 2020, the Philippines exported Rice to Vietnam.
Then in 2021, the Philippines imported $1.42B in rice, becoming the world’s 2nd largest rice importer. In the same year, rice was the 15th most imported product in the Philippines. The Philippines imports rice primarily from Vietnam ($1.18B).
In 2013, the Department of Agriculture was mapping strategic rice production areas nationwide to give teeth to a measure that seeks to end the conversion of irrigated agricultural lands into subdivisions.
A survey conducted in 2008 found that, on average, 9,000 hectares of farmlands devoted to rice are being converted to other uses or planted to other crops every year.
Of these 9,000 hectares, about a third are irrigated, according to a survey from 2002 to 2007. The survey also showed that as much as 36,000 metric tons (MT) were lost in 2002. By 2007, the potential palay production lost due to the conversion of rice lands was estimated at around 200,000 MT.
Wanting change and being complicit through apathy are faceless contradictions. Yes, meaningful change is painstakingly slow in the Philippines because that is our colonial past repeating. After all, Filipinos would instead revise history than avoid it.
But the continuous conversion of productive farmlands into other uses has not yet affected the government’s goal of achieving rice self-sufficiency in 2013, said Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala.
“The expansion of irrigated farmlands planted to rice is outpacing the conversion of some farmlands into other uses,” he said.
However, Philippine Rice Research Institute executive director Eufemio T. Rasco Jr. said the rate of land conversion may have been maintained in recent years.
Vietnam remains the largest rice exporter to the Philippines, with shipments increasing by 31 percent year-on-year in the first five months to US$772.4 million. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Asia-Africa Market Department, it exported 1.5 million tonnes to the Philippines, or nearly 90 percent of its rice imports. Vietnam’s total rice exports amounted to 3.6 million tonnes.
According to experts, more exports to the Philippines are expected in the second half due to the impact of the El Nino phenomenon, which could affect the Philippines’ domestic food production.
Vietnam is a developing mixed socialist market economy ranked 34th in the world as measured by nominal GDP and 26th largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity in 2023 estimates.
The Philippines is ranked 36th and 29th, respectively, in 2023 estimates.
How is Vietnam nearly at par with the Philippines after 20 years of war with the United States?
And yet, if one listens to the refrain from political dynasties, you’d believe the Philippines has benefited from their benevolence. And the Filipino voters are not without blame. Why keep electing the same politicians and expecting a different outcome?
If you’ve eaten rice lately, you know the answers. But knowing and taking action are distinct things. Wanting change and being complicit through apathy are faceless contradictions. Yes, meaningful change is painstakingly slow in the Philippines because that is our colonial past repeating. After all, Filipinos would instead revise history than avoid it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Crispin Fernandez advocates for overseas Filipinos, public health, transformative political change, and patriotic economics. He is also a community organizer and leader, and freelance writer.
