Friday, 05 November 2021, in the Facebook sharing of Levie
Isha, the above caption says: “Established 05 November 1985 – Philippine
Rice Research Institute – as response of President Ferdinand Marcos to make the Philippines bountiful in rice”
(my translation). That was via Executive Order 1061, s198
WHEREAS, rice is the
most important crop in the country, being the staple food of eighty (80%)
percent of the population, and rice farming is a major source of employment in
the rural sector.
The other Whereases point to the following:
(1)
“Substantial progress in the “use of
high-yielding cultivars, fertilizers, pesticides and judicious water
management, has been achieved in the country.”
(2)
“Continuous emergence of new problems of
biological and socio-economic nature.”
(3)
“Problems in rice productivity are further
aggravated by the rising costs of farm inputs and by the continuous reduction
of per capita cultivated land.”
And setting up PhilRice would “unify the efforts of various
agencies and institutions working on rice research and development to generate
an in-depth approach to the present and future problems specific to the
Philippines.”
And so, with the wise leadership of Santiago R Obien (SRO) as Executive Director, PhilRice rose
from unknown to world class, and this was phenomenal because of the presence in
Los Baños of the International Rice
Research Institute (IRRI) that was richly funded in dollars by the Ford
and Rockefeller Foundations and already 25 years old at that time.
Via the EO, PhilRice had these:
Purposes and
Objectives. – The Institute shall develop, in coordination with the University
of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB), a national rice research program so as
to sustain and further improve the gains already made in rice production,
improve the income and economic condition of small rice farmers, expand
employment opportunities in the rural areas, and ultimately promote the general
welfare of the people through self-sufficiency in rice production.
“Self-sufficiency” – yes. Today, I can see the “gentle
contradiction” in those words, as it mandates PhilRice to “ultimately promote
the general welfare of the people through self-sufficiency in rice.” That is to
say, the EO saw the main objective of PhilRice bringing the Philippines to self-sufficiency
in rice alone.
Unfortunately,
rice self-sufficiency was an insufficient long-term target, as has been proven
by history in the last 36 years since the birth of PhilRice.
I believe the ideal target of PhilRice should have been Food Security, which would have mandated
PhilRice to “improve the income and economic condition of small rice farmers,
expand employment opportunities in the rural areas, and ultimately promote the
general welfare of the people” not
limited to rice sufficiency.
That is to say, PhilRice could
have been even more successful in carrying out its duties following its avowed
mandate – if it was for food security, not limited to rice sufficiency.@517
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