Rice and Fall

The rice shortage that the country is experiencing at present makes us the world’s largest importer of rice—- at over 2 million metric tons each year. Now at least, we can say that we are keenest in the world at certain something aside from being the most corrupt.

After signing a deal with Vietnam, the government is still negotiating with Thailand for an additional horde in the coming days, proving altogether that indeed, the rice shortage we have right now is too real for comfort.

According to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, the present rice supply that the government has, through the National Food Authority, would last 57 days. I don’t know if that figure is healthy or not, 57 days is just days, what if in the 58th day there’d be no rice, then that’ll mean mayhem and turbulence in our streets of the meanest kind, much worse than in Indonesia or in Egypt where the military there had to stop militarizing and make bread just to put up with low bread supply and high bread demand among the Egyptians.

If on the 58th day, there’d be no enough rice within our reach, then I think the rice shortage would be far more malevolent cause for pulling down the government than the ZTE Controversy and Hello Garci hullabaloo combined, as people would surely packed the streets and demand an ouster, heads would roll for certain.

The government should do something drastically. I couldn’t believe that someone who look so smart or speak so eloquently such as Mr. Arthur Yap heads our Agriculture Department and yet the present rice shortage becomes like a menace that just came out of nowhere, like a miracle, or a flash of lightning and Mr. Yap says, “What was that?” He couldn’t be that naïve I am pretty sure.

Aside from all the patent reasons, like palay lands being converted to malls in tens or hundreds of hectares each year, the youth in the rural areas becoming nurses or call center agents rather than being rice farmers, low selling prices for the rice farmers, even the ever increasing scarcity of rainfall (due to climate change)—-the government should look inwardly towards its own turf. The National Food Authority should reinvigorate itself and clean up some of its mess and help straighten out the kinks in the rice supply chain, to not allow cheap smuggled rice to flood the market, or otherwise local rice traders would have less notion to put up stores for the golden grains and close shop instead. And of course, hoarding among our suppliers is a perennial problem.

And perhaps, Mr. Yap should seek some sort of regulations or legislation curtailing or minimizing the conversion of huge palay lands into malls or factories. In other countries, they prohibit excessive construction of golf locations as it consumes water in a very gargantuan manner, harming the environment in the process. I am sure we could do that here concerning our rice farms becoming malls.