SONA 2015: Lessons and broken promises in agriculture

 

Sticking to the strategy that helped him win the presidential elections, Aquino vowed to reverse the abuses that happened during the administration of then-President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – including excessive rice importations.

 

“What hurts is, because they keep purchasing more than what they need year after year, the excess rice that had to be stored in warehouses ended up rotting... Is this not a crime, letting rice rot despite the fact that there are 4 million Filipinos who do not eat three times a day?” Aquino said in his first state of the nation address (SONA) in 2010.

 

And then there was the promise of rice self-sufficiency in about four years' time. The deadline was eventually pushed back to 2014 and postponed yet again to 2016 or until Aquino steps down from the presidency.

 

“Even the Aquino administration would say that it has failed so far... kasi may mga target siyang taasan ang production at hectarage. Kung titingnan ang record niya ngayon, hindi iyon nangyari dahil sa wala naman kasi siyang ibinibigay na sapat na suporta para sa maliliit na magsasaka,” said IBON Foundation senior researcher Glenis Balangue.

 

Imports

 

The Philippines has imported 8.6 million metric tons (MT) of rice or over 1.43 million MT a year on average since Aquino assumed the presidency in 2010, data from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) show.

 

In comparison, over 1.79 million MT were imported annually or 16.13 billion MT in all under the nine-year regime of Arroyo. Philippines bought over 2 million metric tons amid the global food crisis, according to IRRI.

 

Neglect

“Iyong binabanggit na hindi magagawa ang pag-modernize sa agrikultura dahil umano sa krisis na dumating sa kanyang panunungkulan – halimbawa iyong conflict at mga kalamidad – ang sabi ko nga diyan, mabuti at may kalamidad at conflict para may magamit siyang (Aquino) dahilan,” said National Anti-Poverty Commission sectoral representative Eduardo Mora.

 

But the increase numbers on the country's rice imports reflect a wider issue: the government's neglect of the agriculture sector, according to an economist and a former Cabinet official.

 

Agriculture output has consistently trailed the expansion of the gross domestic product (GDP) since the President's mother, Corazon C. Aquino, took over Malacañang from dictatorship regime of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

 

“In general, mas mababa ang growth ng agriculture kaysa sa over-all growth ng economy except noong panahon ni Erap [Former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada]. Noong panahon ni Erap, emphasis kasi talaga niya ang agriculture,” said economist Benjamin Diokno, who served as Estrada's secretary of Budget and Management, from July 1998 until Estrada's ouster in January 2001.

 

“Itong agriculture is growing 2 percent on average. Kung ang population mo is growing 2 percent to 2.3 percent, mas maraming magugutom or we import a lot, which we did during the time of [Arroyo] tapos ngayon nag-import na naman tayo,” Diokno noted.

 

Barely 4.6 percent or P350.45 billion of the national government's expenditures totaling over P7.66 trillion in the past four years went to agriculture-related programs and projects, according to Department of Budget and Management records.

 

 

Inclusive growth

The Aquino administration earmarked P89.1 billion of the P2.6 trillion national budget for projects under the Department of Agriculture and various government corporations aimed at boosting production.

 

“You always look at the outcome... Kasi puro pangako, puro propaganda. Of course, may programang ganito, but you always look at the outcome. Pabagsak pa rin ang [agriculture output]. So, in that sense, failure pa rin,” said Diokno.

 

Achieving the Aquino administration's umbrella platform of inclusive growth would supposedly require focusing investments on agriculture.

 

“Growth in equity became a buzzword lately. Ibig sabihin, growth should not leave behind a big chunk of population – dapat kasama sila sa growth. In our case, a big part of our people are being left behind,” said Diokno.

 

The number of Filipinos considered poor increased to about 25.8 million during the first half of last year from 24.6 million in the comparable 2013 period, latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show.

 

About 75 percent of the country's poor reside in rural areas, with the poverty incidence among farmers and fisherfolk settling far above the national average. In 2012, for instance, 38.3 percent of farmers were living below subsistence levels.

 

Supporting the agriculture sector would address unemployment, strengthen the purchasing power of the farmers, make local production more efficient, lower food prices, sustain domestic consumption and eventually lift the over-all economy, Diokno claimed.

 

“Ngunit paano sila magtatanim kung wala iyong lupa sa kanilang kamay?” noted Balangue of IBON Foundation.

 

Agrarian reform

 

About 1.2 million farmers rely on tenancy arrangements because seven in every 10 farmers do not have their own land while a third of landowners hold 80 percent of agricultural lands in the country, according to IBON.

 

The Philippines has adopted a comprehensive agrarian reform program to give landless farmers and farm workers a shot at ownership. But the program itself could have contributed to the stunted growth of the agriculture sector.

 

“Part of the problem is also the agrarian reform – the uncertainty. If you are a landowner, hindi mo alam kung iyong lupa mo is going to be covered by the agrarian reform... So, you don't want to invest in irrigation, improvement ng land kasi baka sayang. Nakatengga lang siya or ginagawang subdivision, golf courses,” said Diokno.

 

The Department of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are still to acquire around 1.7 million hectares for distribution as of end-June 2014, according to Malacañang.

 

But Aquino can only do so much with roughly a year left in his six-year term as President. – VS/JJ GMA News