Let’s Rice to the Occasion (Who’s to blame for the Philippine Rice Crisis?)

Written on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 12:00 am | by Lester Cavestany

Confucius says, “A gentleman blames himself while a common man blames others.” Don Shula paraphrased his words and said, “The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others.”

When you see hundreds of people standing in line for hours under the hot sun so they can buy 2 kilograms of NFA rice - so that they can save P50 - who do you blame?

When you look back and see that during the time of President Marcos, we were a rice-exporting country but today, we are one of the world’s top importers of rice, who do you blame?

When you realize that our neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam, are the world’s top exporters of rice and yet many of their advances in rice farming were developed in the International Rice Research Institute in Laguna, who do you blame for our own country’s lack of progress in rice farming?

As we face this (impending) rice crisis, it’s very easy to blame the government. We can see clearly that one of the root causes of the problem is the lack of an effective national population control policy. We can’t help but think that the government is not doing enough to help the poor. We are outraged by the way the government has (mis)handled the agrarian reform program - a program that lacks the support structures for our farmers and it even encourages agricultural land conversion. So now there’s less land for farming because many of them have been converted to subdivisions, golf courses, commercial centers, etc.

The government is full of brilliant minds, many even have post-graduate degrees from prestigious universities abroad. It really bakes my noodle as to how our nation’s greatest minds in the government have trouble coming up with policies, plans and projects that will address our problems. Maybe it’s really difficult to create change in our government. I wonder why.

Who else can we blame this crisis on? Ahh! We can also blame it on the rain (or lack of it). Typhoons, the Monsoon, floods and/or droughts directly affect crop yields. Let’s just blame it on climate change. It’s a hot topic anyway.

I found another sector that we could blame. While watching 24 Oras and TV Patrol this week, I saw news reports of government officials inspecting warehouses of rice traders to check if there’s any foul-play going on in terms of hoarding, mixing, etc. The implication, of course, is that businesses are the ones responsible for the crisis.

As I come to grips with the harsh realities of this rice crisis, I find comfort in the fact that it’s not my fault. It’s the government’s fault. It’s Mother Nature’s fault. It’s the rice traders’ fault. Not mine!

But as I reflect more deeply, I realize that if I blame the government, Mother Nature or the business community, then it puts me in a difficult situation because then I can’t do anything about it. I feel powerless. If I blame them, then the burden of responsibility is passed on to them, i.e. they are the ones who should do something about it and I’m totally dependent on their solutions. But what if they don’t act on it. Then I’m stuck with the problem.

Now, I understand what Confucius meant when he said that the common man blames others. Now I realize what Don Shula meant when he said that the superior man blames himself.

I don’t know about you but I have no desire to be an inferior man. And so I take the road less traveled and I blame myself for this rice crisis.

I blame myself for not expressing my concerns to my church on their stand against artificial contraception. I blame myself for voting candidates who have no track record of being pro-poor. I blame myself for not volunteering my time and resources to help non-governmental organizations that cater to poverty alleviation. I blame myself for not being concerned with the tenets of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, thinking that it won’t affect me because I’m not in the agri-business. I blame myself for not supporting efforts to control climate change. I blame myself for not speaking up against the unfair trade practices of rice businessmen in our country. I blame myself for this rice crisis and I am sorry.

As I admit that I am partly to blame for my country’s problems, I can’t help but demand change in myself. I resolve to make amends and to contribute positively in my own little way to help bring back the glory days of the Green Revolution.

As you and I realize that each one of us is a vital part of the magic formula that will help solve our problems, I hope and pray that we will live to see the day when we will be able to provide food security for all Filipinos, rich and poor alike.

I hope and pray that the Philippines will be a rice-exporting country once again.

Kaya ‘yan!

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

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About The Author: Lester Cavestany is a teacher at the United Nations International School of Hanoi. He has been an OFW since 2002 and he hopes that someday he can be back in the Philippines for good to continue the programs of Education Volunteers Educating Filipinos Inc., a non-profit organization he started with his friends in 2001.

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Comments

One Response to “Let’s Rice to the Occasion (Who’s to blame for the Philippine Rice Crisis?)”

  1. Nick on April 12th, 2008 4:02 am

    There’s been much debate as to who to blame in this crisis. On the near term, I believe our crisis has a lot to do with exporting countries such as Vietnam.

    On the midterm, it may be government policy.

    In the longterm, it may be government policy again to blame.

    But, i like the attitude you are taking. And I’m sure, this will get people thinking. We are, after all, the masters of our own destiny.

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