Rice sufficiency? Hellooueeer!!!!????

A funny story from Inquirer.Net: RP aims for 92% self-sufficiency in rice in 2008

According to the report, the ambitious plan came after Gloria Arroyo "announced an ambitious multi-billion-peso plan to overhaul the country's agricultural sector to cope with the rising world price of food, particularly rice, the national diet staple."

The methods? Restoring irrigation and post-harvest facilities.

With the presence of the International Rice Research Institute in the country, marami ang puwedeng maniwala. But analyzing how the government handles the taxpayers' money (Note: the "liquified" fertilizer, and the latest: ang nababoy na Swine Program implemented with Quedancor), along with its policies supporting the Filipino farmers, mukhang suntok sa buwan lang ang mga pronouncements. Bakit kamo? Let us count the ways:

First, when the Philippines entered the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trades (GATT) as well as the World Trade Organization (WTO), there was no realistic safety net offered to the agricultural sector. So ngayon, binabaha tayo ng cheap agricultural products from other countries, nasaan na ang mga pinoy na nagtatanim ng palay?

Ikalawa, rice smuggling is un-abated. Worse, me mga ilang taga-gobyerno pa na sangkot dito. Ano ang ginagawa nila? Ang Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), ano lang ba ang hinahabol: smuggled na luxury cars?

Ikatlo, asan ang mga pera na dapat ay mapupunta sa mga magsasaka? Should we still ask Jocjoc Bolante for the issue of the fertilizer na allegedly ginamit ni Gloria noong nakaraang eleksiyon?

Ikaapat, ano na ang nangyayari sa mga lupa na dati ay tinatamnan ng mga palay? Ginagawang subdibisyon. Kahit nga ang Banawe Rice Terraces unti-unti nang naglalaho at ginagawang Banawe Subdivision Terraces. Bakit? Dahil malinaw ang pera... este ang polisiya ng gobyerno -- polisiya na wala itong pakialam kung mawalan man ng mga taniman ng palay basta merong tatayong mga bahay. Kung sabagay, dalawa ang kita dito: una, sa lobbying para sa conversion ng lupa, at ikalawa, building permits. Tanungin niyo si suspended Mayor Ping Cuerpo kung magkano. O kaya tingnan niyo sa Google Earth paano inaararo ang Montalban para gawing TANIMAN NG BAHAY. And Montalban is not alone. Look at Bulacan. Marami din dun.

Ikalima, even the National Food Authority, instead na bumili sa mga magsasaka, ay bumibili sa labas ng bansa. In simple terms, nag-iimport.

Ikaanim, wala ring tiwala ang mga taga-gobyerno na matutupad talaga ito. Consider the NFA saying the mag-iimport pa rin sila dahil "it was still more expensive to produce rice in an archipelagic country like the Philippines compared with those with large land masses like Thailand and Viet Nam." So how can we believe something to be realized kung ang proponents nito ay hindi nga naniniwala. It's like a priest saying "Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife" pero sa loob-loob nito "because I am the only one entitled to do so". Or, it's like hearing a government official say "I am waging a war against corruption" pero sa loob-loob niya may karugtong na "kasi magkakaroon ako ng kakumpetensiya". Look at Gloria.

Kung sabagay, it's not impossible nga namn to attain rice sufficiency. Madali lang yun: Mag-import ng mag-import. Anyway, marami naman tayong dollars na galing sa mga overseas Filipino workers. What's the use of these slaves sacrificing their lives and being called as the contemporary "Filipino Heroes"?