Liberating PH Farmers – From What?

With UP Manila communicator Benito, former PH Secretary of Agriculture Montemayor dreams of liberating Filipino farmers – from what?

Facebook sharing of Mr Montemayor: “A Country For Farmers[1].” The link is to the Inquirer.net essay by Joberson Benito dated 25 February 2020 about what Mr Benito knows as the life of the Filipino farmer especially with the advent of the Rice Tariffication Law, RTL. (According to the note attached to his essay, Mr Benito graduated with Organizational Communication from the University of the Philippines Manila.)

So, what does Mr Benito communicate about the RTL?
Very little. Because he did not do proper research!

This is a UP alumnus speaking, the one and only recipient of the UP System’s award, “Outstanding Alumnus for Creative Writing” awarded 2011 by the UP Los Baños Alumni Association. Singular honor; there is no similar or related honor in the entire UP System.

Mr Benito’s essay of 547 words is all prejudice against the RTL but no details. And:
His essay of 547 words is all prejudice against farmers but no details either!

Above, my superimposed image is from my photo collection, taken somewhere in La Union about 7 years ago.

Question: Is that a farmer you are looking at or not?
Answer: He is.

So! The Filipino has changed over the years!
But he has not changed over the years.
And neither Mr Montemayor nor Mr Benito seem to be aware of either.

What has not changed in the life of the Filipino farmer is his poverty. But Mr Benito does not mention that; he is preoccupied with the RTL that he did not study thoroughly. He says of it:

Filipinos love instant noodles, instant coffee, instant coconut milk. We want to achieve the end goal fast. The rice tarriffication law is the Philippines’ version of an instant fix to lower rice prices, an easy way to address the food crisis. But it is like admitting there is nothing to be done to improve our farmers’ productivity and lower rice prices unless we resort to importing cheaper rice.

Note that he misspells tariffication – everyone does! If Mr Benito googled about the RTL, he would not have made that spelling mistake.

In any case, above Mr Benito says the RTL is “to lower rice prices.” No! That is not the purpose of the RTL. Neither is it to improve “farmers’ productivity.” I’m not telling you – you have to do your own research. Or, you read my essay, “PH Agriculture: Rice Tariffication Is A Must, Farm-Based Exports Are More Must![2].”

All in all, what I want to say is that what Mr Benito has written reflects only his diligence and not the quality of education he got from UP Manila, where one of my daughters also graduated from, Occupational Therapy. What Mr Benito needs right now to improve his own occupational therapy – exercise the fingers and add more food for thought for the mind for his body to become healthier as an organizational communicator. This is a grandfatherly advice; I am 79 and he is 26.@517

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[1] https://opinion.inquirer.net/127585/a-country-for-farmers?fbclid=IwAR3nr8Ni9pcVgXXLCIfJAGJHKwoV0cpZFsOVOrZP_Px31MODr5qjYmm-_9s

[2] https://frankhtheblogfather.blogspot.com/2019/11/ph-agriculture-rice-tariffication-is_21.html