THE first step in solving a problem is to realize there is one.
This is why it is refreshing to hear that the incoming Agriculture secretary, former North Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piñol, is traveling across the country, and consulting with farmers and fishermen, about what is holding them back.
This is in sharp contrast to what has gone on in the last six years, where top Agriculture officials of the Aquino administration led by Secretary Proceso Alcala ignored reality and talked a good game—promising rice self-sufficiency, no less—then failing miserably to deliver on their promises.
Is it any wonder that while the economy as a whole—buoyed by election year spending—grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016, agriculture production actually fell by 4.4 percent? This same pattern was seen in whole of 2015, when gross domestic product (GDP) rose 5.8 percent, but agriculture rose by only 0.2 percent.
The significance of this was not lost on outgoing Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who said the agricultural sector, which accounts for three out of every 10 jobs, continues to be the biggest road block to the goal of attaining a higher and more inclusive growth.
“There is an urgent need to rethink the development strategy for this sector, especially with the impact of El Niño and natural disasters that hound the country yearly,” Balisacan said—an indictment as good as any of the Aquino administration’s utter failure in six years to help farmers and fishermen make a decent living.
One “strategy” from the Aquino administration we trust that the incoming government will abandon is paying no heed to the farmers themselves. This practice was to have tragic results in the Kidapawan massacre in April, where police opened fire on hungry farmers who were protesting the lack of government aid in the midst of a six-month drought brought on by the El Niño. Two of the farmers were killed.
Already, we understand, the incoming Agriculture secretary is getting an earful—including reports of rampant corruption within the Agriculture Department, where officials were getting a $20 rebate on every metric ton of rice imported from countries such as Vietnam.
This $20 “incentive” for importing rice would certainly explain why Agriculture Department officials were in no hurry to help local farmers improve their production—when they could earn so much on the side by encouraging imports.
Piñol, who is also a farmer, notes that farmers and fishermen are being cheated by traders and are suffering from government neglect.
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte won on the promise that change is coming. We can think of no better place for this to start than in the Agriculture Department.