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Rica Mae L.

Abundo POSITION PAPER EAPP


12- ROCKEFELER

IMPORTATION OF RICE IN THE PHILIPPINES

A meal without a rice is not considered as a complete meal to almost every Filipino citizen.
Rice is the most abundant resource in the Philippines, it provides food and gives farmers sufficient
income especially when it is their harvesting season. It is also one of the most important factor that
plays an important role in the Filipino economy since then up to now.

However, it is believed that importation of rice is a way to earn more profit that can help the
country and it has always been a hot topic all over the news these past years, that people were still
debating whether it really brings a positive outcome to our economy and also for the people who
are highly affected which are the farmers.

According to the latest news about the said issue, Gemma Rita R. Marin in Inquirer.net stated that,
for about two decades now, the Philippines has been a net importer of agricultural products,
including rice. Per the World Trade Organization, imports of Philippine agricultural products
consistently outnumbered exports from 1994 to 2014 by an average value of $1.38 billion.
Particular to rice, according to Food and Agriculture Organization reports, imports have also
exceeded exports at an average of over half a billion US dollars from 1998 to 2013. Huge amounts
of rice ranging in value from half a billion to almost 2 billion dollars were imported from 2004 to
2010. In 2008, the Philippines was reported as the world’s largest importer of rice, importing some
1.8 million tons of the staple valued at $1.96 billion. Gloomier still is that we have been importing
from neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand, whose scientists and agriculturists
came to the Philippines and learned rice technologies from us.

Based from my understanding, I disagree with the fact that rice importation would be
extremely beneficial, since it is believed that the Philippines is known as an agricultural country
with rice as its main crop. The nation can produce its own rice production without the help of other
countries and Filipinos can think of exemplary strategies that can sustain its economy’s growth.
Even before, the Philippines managed to be the top rice producing country in Asia, during Marco’s
reign but as the time goes by, the succeeding presidents fail to maintain his actions that led to a
huge downfall on the country’s economy including the rice production. As a temporary solution,
the country engage in rice importation with the help from other countries who the Philippines
educated rice technologies such as Vietnam and Thailand, to meet the demands of our rapidly
growing population which increases 2.5% each year.

Danilo Ramos, secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, also claims that
importation “aggravates the situation of the hurting rice sector” because farmers cannot compete
with cheaper and usually subsidized rice imports. The unstable price owing to unsteady supply in
the global market is considered as another problem with rice importation. The unbalanced supply
makes the international market “thin” as there are a number of countries competing for stocks.
This, according to Fabiosa, poses greater risk for the county.

Nonetheless, I still think that importing rice is not really that worth it, if our country’s
resources were continuously being wasted instead of being nurtured and fostered. Many Filipinos
especially economists still believed that Philippines is capable of producing rice at a large scale if
the government itself, help their people, the farmers and the whole country, to provide their needs
and uplifts them, instead of being corrupt. Yes, rice importation is helping the country’s economy
but we, Filipinos should bear in mind that we should not depend our weaknesses to other countries,
instead we should solve our own problems and provide better economic rate that will surely be
beneficial in the near future. If we continually learn to discipline one another and nurture the
countries resources, we may no longer need the help of other countries and we can regain our place
as one of the top rice producing country not only in Asia but all over the world.

References:
https://opinion.inquirer.net/105195/rice-importation-food-security
https://dyosabog.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/a-position-paper-on-rice-importation/
https://ricematters.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/to-import-or-not-to-import/

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