‘Gloria’s neglect led to vulnerability to rice cartel’

May 2, 2008

Malacañang has only itself to blame for the country’s “vulnerability” to the dictates of a rice price cartel, the opposition yesterday said amid reports that Thailand has decided to withdraw from the country’s bid for crucial rice supply.

“Beggars can’t be choosers. The country is very vulnerable right now because of the skewed priorities of the Arroyo adminis-tration,” United Opposition (UNO) president and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said.

He noted that the government prioritized projects such as the controversial broadband network deal “where it could get huge kickbacks and opted to import rice rather than invest in rice self-sufficiency.”

UNO spokesman Adel Tamano stressed the Palace has managed to unwittingly unravel the country’s inability to attain self-sufficiency in terms of food supply.

“The Thai snub emphasizes the urgent need for rice self-sufficiency. Simply, during crisis time you can only count on yourself. The country was self-

sufficient as late as 1994 so this means that if we have the political will to do it, we don’t need to rely on our neighbors,” he added.

Earlier, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said “This could have been avoided had they given priority to the agricultural industry.”

“During President Joseph Estrada’s time, the agri sector was the top priority since he wanted the people to have cheap food on their tables. The problem with President Arroyo is that she doesn’t know how it is to be hungry. She has lived a life of royalty which is why she is not sensitive to the needs of the people,” the mayor stressed.

Thailand announced it will not join the Philippine tender on May 5, a day after it said it will be forming a rice price-fixing cartel with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia as costs of the staple grain rocket.

The grouping of Mekong nations would be similar to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and would be called the Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (Orec).

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, for his part, also yesterday urged an open international rice trading amid soaring prices after Thailand’s premier said an Asian export cartel was to be formed to fix the grain’s cost.

He stressed that it was still too early to tell if the cartel would actually be created, but urged rice producers to boost trade flows.

The Philippines is one of the world’s largest importers of the grain.

“It is difficult to speculate on an Asian rice cartel when there is nothing firm formally announcing its creation. Vietnam has not formally announced its inclusion in this formation,” Yap told reporters.

He, however, said exporters should “use this opportunity to group together and consolidate production volumes to ensure greater trade and inventory flows into the world.”

Rice exporters should ensure that gains made against poverty and hunger over the last few years are not lost to “reduced inventories, spiraling prices and speculation.”

The government also signed an agreement with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to help it grow enough rice to feed its own people within three years.

IRRI president Robert Zeigler said the institute would “join forces with the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Rice Research Institute to ramp up Philippine rice production.”

President Arroyo witnessed the signing of the broad-ranging accord at the IRRI headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna.

Zeigler said the agreement would help steer Manila “toward self-sufficiency.”

According to Yap, collaboration with IRRI would cover all 4 million hectares of farmland planted with rice.

The agreement encompasses irrigation, high-yield hybrid varieties, credit support, technical advice for farmers, and construction of storage facilities to address the country’s 5 percent-plus yield losses through spoilage.

“Pretty soon farmers would be able to access and breed seeds that are tolerant to certain diseases, flooding and dry spells” which are being developed by IRRI,” he added.

Yap said the government had already contracted enough rice for this year, and additional purchases would be made for buffer stocks.

Mrs. Arroyo, for her part, asked the public to stay calm amid reports that Thailand will not join the Philippine tender on May 5 on claims that the Thai government does not endorse private exporters.

She stressed that the country could stand on its own by boosting local rice production, saying the National Food Authority is just doubling the buffer stocks of the country.

The President also cited that country’s non-inclusion in the Food and Agricultural Organization’s list of 36 countries experiencing a rice crisis.

“So don’t be alarmed by today’s headlines. Both Thailand and Vietnam and other neighbors elsewhere have already concluded contracts with us of 1.2 million metric tons, enough to cover the 10-percent differential which is our production and our consumption. If we’re to go in to the market, again, it’s for buffer stocks. So that’s why it’s a take-it-or-leave-it situation as far as NFA is concerned. In other words, we can take it or we can leave it, depending on how the price is,” Mrs. Arroyo was quoted as saying.

At the Senate, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan opposed the creation of a rice cartel and appealed to those proposing the move to “think twice for humanitarian reasons.”

“The rice cartel will be anti-poor, and its global implications will be tremendous. If the Philippines doesn’t assert itself now as an Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Naions) member and as a rice producing economy, we will soon be at the mercy of this proposed Orec,” he said in a statement.

“We are not an exporting country so we can’t be part of it. The government on behalf of the people must oppose this. Think of our people first and foremost,” he added.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II reiterated his call for the Department of Foreign Affairs to formally propose a special Asean Leaders’ Summit on Rice and Food Security in light of the impending creation of Orec.

Roxas said the Asean must move as one in helping secure regional food security in light of soaring oil and rice process.

“Neglecting to act as a regional bloc amid a rice and food crisis can raise doubts n the minds of other world leaders of Asean’s determination to pursue economic integration,” he stressed.

“Before Orec is institutionalized, the Asean community must weigh in as a regional bloc to obtain trade privileges with its fellow members in keeping with the Asean spirit,” Roxas said.

Sen. Edgardo Angara called for “a genuine investment” in post-harvest facilities and irrigation systems as long-term solutions to the rice problem in the country, stressing that these two areas alone can cover the Philippines’ rice shortage or yearly imports.

The country currently has 4.2 million hectares of rice harvest area, of which 1.4 million are irrigated through the national irrigation systems, and communal irrigation system.

Of this 1.4 million hectares of irrigated land, 700,000 hectares have fully functional irrigation systems, while 400,000 hectares require immediate repair and rehabilitation.

“For the wet season beginning September, we must concentrate all support on the 700,000 hectares of irrigated rice land because of its potential for higher and better yield. The support for high yield seeds and post-harvest facilities should be concentrated in these 700,000 hectares, situated mostly in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Bicol and Iloilo,” he said.

Angara added the P500-million fertilizer subsidy or the bulk of it must be allocated to farmers primarily in these rice lands. AFP

By Ben Gines Jr. and Tesa Gaila Medina

source: http://tribune.net.ph/headlines/20080503hed4.html

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