Farmers create paddy art for Duterte, Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo got a rice makeover after the Philippine Rice Institute (PhilRice) created a paddy art showing the image of the two officials.

PhilRice's FutureRice farm program's paddy art called "Rice up Pilipinas" can be seen at the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

On Thursday, PhilRice also posted another paddy art featuring Duterte’s face and his known name “Du30.” The president’s paddy art can be seen at the Palayabangan Field along Biotech Road at the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

While some question the authenticity of the paddy art, PhilRice clarified that the photo of the artwork wasn’t edited. PhilRice said two types of rice varieties were used and were manually transplanted by 30 staff members.

PhilRice also launched a rice paddy art showing the faces of celebrities Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza last March.

Rice paddy art or “Tanbo Art” is a form of art which originated in Japan. According to Aomori.com, it is a gigantic artwork in a rice field created by farmers by planting rice plants of different kinds and color.

A tanbo art event is also being held annually at the Inakadate Village, Aomori Prefecture.