Filipinos are rice consumers by nature and habit. This is why rice makes up a considerable portion of families’ food budget. This is also the reason the soaring price of rice is hurting the people’s pockets —fanning their outrage.
For the eighth month in a row, the price of rice has increased, roughly between 9 percent and 13 percent for both wholesale and retail.
In Zamboanga City, the shortage is such that prices have reached P70/kilo, hurting families already struggling to cope with higher prices of other goods and services.
The National Food Authority said the shortage was caused by the delay in the delivery of imported rice from Vietnam and Thailand, as it encouraged the public to settle for fumigated, weevil-infested rice that it insisted was safe to eat.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol also floated the idea of legalizing rice smuggling in certain areas in an attempt to stabilize prices—a suggestion that was immediately shot down as insensitive and defeatist.
The Duterte administration must understand that rice is not at the level of other issues it must address. Certainly all these issues—corruption, criminality, drugs, changes in the system of government—are important. But none is quite so fundamental as Filipinos having rice on the table. This is a gut issue, literally and not just figuratively. A nation insecure about its food is insecure about its future.
President Duterte has been known to act decisively on issues he deems truly important. Look at how swiftly he acted on Boracay despite warnings on its impact on tourism and the economy. Look at how he continues to wage war on illegal drugs despite vociferous opposition from those who mistrust his methods.
We are sure that once the President recognizes just how central rice is to the everyday lives of Filipinos, he will do what is necessary: Fire incompetent agriculture officials, dispel talk about his official family’s link to shady activity, and establish measures that would make rice supply stable despite external developments.
A government is supposed to assure its people of sustenance, instead of force-feeding them low-quality grain, or worse, its brand of incompetence and apathy.