Agriculture continues to be BURIED by the Philippines’ enormous and rapidly-growing population

Social justice versus food security. This is what it boils down to now. In his PhilSTAR piece “Subsistence”, Alex Magno observes…

Our rice production is immune to all the subsidies and credit programs organized by government. It will continue to be inefficient unless we consolidate and industrialize our farmlands. This sector remains trapped in subsistence mode. We use basically the same technologies and social organizations from the time when our population was under 20 million.

Magno then issues an ominous prognosis…

With basically the same farm organization in place, all the subsidies will have limited impact. We can only produce so much rice that, as our population approaches 130 million, we will be importing more and more of our staple food.

How did it come to this? The answer is a cold war paradigm that evolved out of the rise of communism in between the world wars. The guerilla army which fought against the Japanese evolved into a communist rebellion because the opportunity was too good to waste given the network they established and the arms they accumulated. It also stemmed from the unfinished revolution of 1896. Since agriculture was the main economic driver, it was only logical that farmers wanted their own land.

The agricultural model worked for a country of 30 million but not for a number that is fast approaching 130 million. It didn’t help also that we weren’t ready for independence. The same is true with the oligarchs need to rebuild their fortunes after the war which led them to intensify their focus on rent-seeking businesses. Because of the political structure, there was no long-term development plan. Further complicating the situation was the presence of the Americans who controlled the political and economic aspects of society.

This is why I’m in favor of charter change even if the proponents aren’t exactly what could be called patriots. The surveys don’t matter because think of the Malolos Congress. There was no survey then and yet, the Filipinos who composed that body adopted a parliamentary form of government as it was the norm at that time. It was the Americans who imposed their political structure on us which is why we’re in the mess that we are now. The agrarian reform program should have been finished in ten years. The pace at which agriculture is being modernized won’t be able to keep pace with our population growth.

I’m reminded of one of Lee Kuan Yew’s talks to Singaporeans where he raised the question of the accusation against him that he interfered in the private lives of Singaporeans, particularly with their reproductive rate. His answer was if he didn’t, the city state wouldn’t have been able to achieve the goals he had set and the vision for the quality of life they enjoy.

Our problem is our oligarchs only want to continue making money off a captive market. To hell with the quality of life. The fact is our main export is labor and that is what drives our economy. We might as well specialize in this by embarking on serious educational reforms and holding on to our niche as the top supplier of manpower to the world.

Ramon Ortoll

Cook wide reader political crackpot music afficionado old soul out-of-the box thinker aspiring writer tech geek gearhead