President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. is still in limbo on how he can increase agricultural productivity. He is surrounded by fair-complexioned bureaucrats who, like him, do not know what is happening on the ground. A number of them had been preventively suspended by the Ombudsman.
The list initially included Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban — I wonder whether he is off the hook because as senior undersecretary, plans, plots, and schemes of significant magnitude pass through his office for his imprimatur.
Now confronted with the prospect of an inadequate supply of rice on account of the devastation caused by typhoon “Egay” in the rice-producing provinces of Central Luzon, President Bongbong apologizes that he cannot deliver on his promise of P20 per kilo of rice. What will bring him down to his knees is the advent of El Niño.
The truth is that typhoon or no typhoon, his agriculture agenda will still be a failure. His wish is one thing, how to achieve his goal is another. The program and actions of his subalterns do not match his objectives as Agriculture Secretary.
And now he is raising the white flag because his mindset is that it’s only Central Luzon that produces rice.
Here is my unsolicited input to our President. As I said before, his intentions are good but they lack the facts and courses of action to convert these into pulsating realities. Among Cebuanos, they’d say: “Estorya lang na (It’s mere storytelling).”
Look south, Mr. President. The great plains of North and South Cotabato, Maguindano province, Lanao del Norte, some parts of the Zamboanga provinces, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur, and the eastern portion of Davao Oriental are vast rice lands. About 80 percent of these lands are irrigated, a priceless legacy of your father.
The periphery of Liguasan Marsh and in Agusan del Sur are vast tracts of idle land that can be cultivated into rice fields with or without the threat of El Niño.
Be that as it may, if the Department of Agriculture will focus its attention on the potential of irrigated lands in Mindanao alone, more than half of the rice requirements of the country will be addressed.
The rest can be provided by other provinces. An added advantage of Mindanao, it seems the region has no definite rainy or dry season. Except for the tip of Surigao del Norte, the rest of Mindanao is far from the typhoon belt.
But how? The last planting season for the year starts in August up to September. Act as if this is a matter of urgency. Enter into a government-to-government deal with China for the procurement of fertilizer pronto. If we stop the talk and act tomorrow, the delivery of fertilizer directly to the Cotabato, Zamboanga and Davao ports will be prompt. Let NFA stations handle the delivery and marketing.
China is so close to the Philippines that it takes only a few days for the fertilizer shipments to arrive by sea. By late September and early October, the newly transplanted seedlings will be needing urea which by then will be available in NFA bodegas.
As I write this piece, the water cannon incident happened. Our Coast Guard may be drenched all over but I don’t think that it would escalate beyond water and diplomatic protests. I always believed that China will not stir up trouble around the West Philippine Sea which is their main trade route. China has become an economic power and its people are proud of that distinction. I do not think that the Chinese will entertain the idea of again living behind the bamboo curtain to conceal the crippling poverty that characterized its past.
So we just have to move on. PBBM should go ahead and appoint former President Duterte as Special Envoy to China. He is a more effective weapon than all the EDCA bases.
If the government through the NFA guarantees to buy the fresh harvests of palay even at ₱19/kilo you can be sure farmers will endeavor to plant rice twice a year. Of course, commercial rice traders will try to out-buy the NFA.
The government should not be frozen into inaction because of the salty water used by China as cannon ammo or due to Egay’s fury. India, Vietnam and Thailand have declared that they will ban rice exports. We have vast land resources. If you know the potential, what is needed is plain common sense. As my grandfather used to say, “Isang kutsaritang utak lang ang kailangan (You only need a teaspoonful of brains).”