Hello! :-)
I just want to get this off my chest. Last night I watched a special documentary of GMA titled "Kalam" which tackles the food crisis here in the Philippines as well as the current situation of the rice farmers.
First part of the program, Vicky Morales interviewed some people, I don't know where that is but for sure it is here in Manila, maybe in Payatas or some other depressed area. And how depressed they really are! Imagine, kumakain na cla ng panis na kanin sa sobrang mahal ng bigas. Some eat bread once a day because they can't afford to buy rice. Nagtitinapay na lang yung iba isang beses sa isang araw dahil kulang ang kinikita, yung iba wla pang trabaho. There was a mother of two kids na ang husband nya ay wlang trabaho. Mga anak na lang daw muna nila ang unang pinapakain kung kapos ang pagkain. Minsan daw sinabihan ng husband nya ang dalawang bata, “O si mama na muna pakainin natin kasi kelangan din ni mama kumain pra sa baby." Imagine buntis pa sya! I don't know if magagalit ako sa kanila or maawa. Wla na nga silang mapakain sa kanilang dalawang anak, gumawa pa ng isa!
Hay naku, eto din ang isa sa mga pangunahing dahilan kung bakit tayo ay may food shortage, sobrang lumobo ang ating populasyon that our food production can't cope up. In fact, every year, nagiincrease naman daw ang rice production pero mas malaki pa ang increase ng population.
Naisip ko nga minsan, ayaw ko nang magkaanak. First, because I fear for the future of my child. Life on this earth is geting harder. Even if I can provide for his/her needs, still I can't control his future environment. Sa ngaun nga, ang dami kong linyang nakkita: linya sa pagbili ng NFA rice, linya sa Landbank for power subsidy ( yung tig 500 pesos). Iniimagine ko ano nalang kaya in the future? I don't want my child or grandchild to experience any of this. Second reason, I want to do this as my share for the world, one less child means one less mouth to feed. Hindi ako magsasalita ng patapos ha, malay mo magaasawa din ako pagdating ng araw. Eto naisip ko lang.
Dapat talaga, maging seryoso na tayo sa population control. I am Catholic but I support family planning by any means, except abortion. Because I believe that being a Christian is being responsible. And the gift of life is not just by bringing a child unto this world but also providing that child a nourishing environment.
Back to Kalam. The other part of the program, they showed the situation of rice farmers. Pinakita doon that yung technology and machinery na ginagamit nung 1960s eh yun pa rin ang gamit ng mga farmers natin ngayon. Isn't that ironic? We have IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) right here in our backyard ( in UP Los Banos) and our Asian neighbors were trained here but how come it seems we haven't establish the edge in rice farming? The Thais, Vietnamese and Cambodians admited that IRRI has done so much for their rice farming.
Meron nga isang farmer, nagtry ng hybrid rice or eto yta ang tinatawag na miracle rice, nalugi pa sya because he was not taught how to plant it, his knowledge wasn't enough. So one of our problem is we lack information dissemination. Also, we have different soil and weather conditions throughout the country and one method of planting might not be effective for all.
The next problem is lack of machinery. Tractor na sa ibang bansa, sa atin kalabaw pa. Ang mga thresher ay inaarkila pa ng mga farmers so bawas na naman ito sa kanilang kita. Sa Cambodia, ang typical rice farmer ay may sarili ng mini-gilingan (mini mill). Huwag nlang tayo magulat that one of these days, mas mayaman pa ang CAmbodia kesa sa Pilipinas. In 1970s they were still in war. I had some Cambodian students before sa CATC, sobrang behind sila sa educational qualifications and skill. Pro bakit mukang mas may promise of progress pa sa kanila kesa dito? Ang bilis nila nkarecover. Tayo parang stagnant ang development. Minsan pa nga mukhang paurong pa. Bakit kaya ganito?
Next, we lack infrastructure in irrigations. Ang dami nating lands na hindi mataniman because it is dry. Sayang din ang mga lands na yon. It could produce additional rice to feed us. Eto sure na akong kasalanan na ng gobyerno. Either the government didn't prioritize agriculture or napunta na sa ibang bulsa ang pera pang irigasyon. Sa Vietnam daw, nag invest tlaga ang government ng infrastructure for farming, now, they are the second biggest exporter of rice in the world.
Eto ha, may isang farmer natuwa kasi may subsidy ang gobyerno if magtanim ka ng hybrid rice. Kaya nag hybrid rice naman sya. But he found out later that ang price ng subsidized hybrid rice from DA is the same with those bought outside so parang wla ding nangyari dba. Bili nalang sya sa labas. As usual, overpricing na naman. Naalala nyo pa ba ang fertilizer scam?
Isa pang factor is ang kawalan ng control sa land conversion. Sabi ng mga supervisors ko, dati daw puro palayan ang makkita mo sa tabi ng mga daan lalo na sa north bound and dito sa bandang Las Pinas...ngayon puro na subdivision. Biro ng Supervisor ko if alam lang daw nya san kukuha ng buto ng bahay kukuha daw sya kasi ang bilis daw tumubo hahahaha Seriously, dapat kasi ang agricultural land hindi kinoconvert sa commercial/residential. Dun tayo manirahan sa hindi mataniman dba. Eto kasalanan na naman ng gobyerno. Either walang pakialam at hindi nag-iisip sa future or nabigyan lang kaya napprove. Yung isang presidentiable dyan na ginawang subdivision ang karamihang palayan...sana wag nyo na iboto.
Thailand is the number one rice exporter; we are the number one rice importer. According to a Thai exporter, if the Philippines come into the market, it affects the whole market kasi malaki ang volume na kinukuha natin. Kamakailan lang dba, nagmakaawa pa c PGMA sa Vietnam to maintain their supply of rice to us. Paano if darating ang time that hindi na nila tayo mabigyan dba? Ang Thailand and Vietnam, inuuna nila ang local need nila. Vietnam has imposed a ban to export rice for two months early this year to prevent local prices from spiraling upwards. Pano na tayo pag galit galit na at nagkagipitan na tlaga?
Ano magagawa natin? Ewan ko, simula kagabi parang sasabog na ang dibdib ko at utak ko sa pag iisip. Feel ko wala na tayong pag asa sa patong patong ba naman na problema. Pro kahit na ganon, let us still act and do something in our own little ways. Ako nagstart na ng no rice for breakfast and dinner. Hahaha. Find other staple food, mag saging nalang or camote. Mag one child policy. And sana ang gobyerno noh maging matino na sa paggawa ng trabaho nila. Sana wala ng mangikil. Wish ko lang lahat ng magnakaw sa gobyerno, ang anak nila at mga apo magkabulutong sana ng pagkadami-dami at pagkalaki-laki. Kung pwede lang sana makulam ang mga kurakpt noh...malay nyo pwede, o mga mangkukulam dyan eto nalang contribution nyo hehehe
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