What The New DA Needs Are Farmers As Partners, Not Protesters & Pessimists!

Before the Rice Tariffication Law or RTL (RA 11203) was signed this February, we already had a rice crisis brought about by imports. Because Pinoy rice is not Asean-competitive. Compare production costs: Philippines P12/kilo, Vietnam P8/kilo, and Thailand P6/kilo. Pinoys are expensive rice farmers!

Cathy Estavillo, Amihan Secretary-General, wants the RTL repealed (Rhodina Villanueva, 14 September 2019, "Peasant Groups Demand P20 Palay Price, P27 NFA Rice," PhilStar, philstar.com). I say, Miss Cathy, the RTL can be repealed – but at our national expense! I am right now holding a document from the DA Communications Team titled "Primer On Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) or RA 11203," and it says:

(The RTL) is required. The Philippines has to abide by its international trade agreement obligations in order to spare it from being economically sanctioned by its trading partners.

Those countries who are members of the World Trade Organization will pounce on us. The Philippines is too little to ignore the WTO!

So, Miss Cathy, other farmer leaders such as Raul Montemayor of the Federation of Free Farmers, FFF; Danilo Ramos, Chair of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, KMP; and MASIPAG National Coordinator Cris Panerio – please stop whining and start leading your Amihan and FFF and KMP and MASIPAG farmers in keeping their costs of rice production low in the first place so that they can be competitive anytime anywhere, with or without RTL!

This crisis will be over sooner than we expect. In the meantime, things will worsen if we keep complaining about them and not start complying with the rules of good agricultural practices, GAPs – farmers must save on seeds, must save on water, must save on fertilizers, must save on pesticides, must save on postharvest losses. If Pinoy farmers fill in the GAPs, they will become Asia-competitive! No rice crisis. As simple as that.

Under Agriculture Secretary William Dar/Manong Willie, the Department of Agriculture, DA, is doing everything it can to resolve the crisis. Listen, on Thursday, 29 August 2019, visiting PhilRice headquarters in the City of Muñoz (Charisma Love Gado-Gonzales, 30 August 2019, "Tripartite Tie-Ups Sustain Agri Dev’t: Agri Chief," PhilRice, philrice.gov.ph), he said:

We are laying down a strong foundation of the kind of agriculture that we want to be. We want to have more engagement with the farmers' associations and cooperatives. We would elevate them as partners in an inclusive agribusiness approach.

Partners! And what have I myself been actively doing as partner in this national undertaking? Blogging to help explain the technical jargon in "The Eight Paradigms" of Manong Willie; so far I have produced an ebook whose cover you see on top (bottom half image): Paradigms Lost, Paradigms Regained, 269 pages; it is my literal and literary exposition of the transparent philosophy of Manong Willie in leading the Philippines to a Rice Paradise (my term). Want a free copy? Email me on/before 17 September 2019; after that, pay US$17/P900/copy. frankahilario@gmail.com.

Partners, not simply protesters, neither pessimists. I say all peasant leaders must look at the PH glass as half-full, not half-empty!@517