Rice self-sufficiency by 2019?

If there is one cabinet member I admire and respect because he is a hard worker and has proven to be quite competent, it is Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol. He has been working to help the Department of Agriculture (DA) reach sustainability, a goal that is important not just for the department, but also for the entire country.

I have always said that I believe that DA should have more funding and be given priority in the government. After all, they are in charge of tilling the land and harvesting the food we eat. In this day and age we are losing farmers because new and easier job opportunities are arising for the younger generation and they aren’t seeing the support they need to follow in the previous generations’ footsteps. So they are abandoning their farming roots for other simpler career choices. And while this may seem like a better option for them now, in the long run we are all going to suffer because there will be no one left to harvest food in the fields.

Now that we have passed the Millennium Development Goals we have to train our eyes on Sustainable Development Goals. Though the specific focused goals may be different for every country, the bigger picture goals remain the same. In a world where our resources are diminishing at a rapid rate, we have to find ways to create sustainability. We can no longer think only about just the next few months, we need to think about the next ten years and even farther. We have to find ways to make our resources last.

In the Philippines that has always been a problem for us. We don’t think ahead. As long as we have enough to get us through today we don’t worry about tomorrow. That’s the wrong mindset to have. If today we can plant the seeds that will bloom for years and years, then it’s well worth it to sacrifice a little now. After all, we are investing in the future.

That is what I feel Piñol is trying to do. He is once again touting the hybrid rice seed as a means of creating rice sustainability possibly as close as 2019. He believes the seed will help give farmers more opportunities to harvest rice and if planted in 30 percent of the crop fields in the country we can achieve rice sustainability in just a little over one year. And according to him this was not an educated guess or wishful thinking but backed by scientific data.

If this is true then this is definitely something we should be carefully studying and implementing. After all, rice is the staple food in the Philippines and if we can find a way to create self-sufficiency for rice that would already be a big DA hurdle overcome and solved for the long run. We would be able to control the cost of rice, stop having to import from our neighbors, and have an abundant supply for everyone.

The problem though in the present is cost. The DA is currently struggling to find funding for its self-sufficiency agenda as purchasing the hybrid rice seed is more expensive than the regular rice seeds. But like I said, this investment is important for the long-term goal. In this aspect, I am hoping we can stop the Filipino “sachet mentality” and finally “buy in bulk” as it were. The return on investment time is not long at all the benefits are far-reaching.

At the very least we are inching towards the larger goal. A fraction of the DA’s proposed budget for this has been approved and with more tangible results it’s possible this will increase. With a little teamwork from the government and the DA, farmers, and hybrid suppliers it’s possible that we will achieve a fully sustainable supply of rice much sooner than we think.

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Things are certainly continuing to heat up and get ugly between our Supreme Court justices. As I mentioned in my column last week, Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the SC (presumably to prepare for her defense against a possible impeachment case). Many though initially believed that she went on leave due to mounting pressure from her fellow justices. I guess at this point – as they say – the gloves are off.

To make matter worse, and even more public than they already are, Sereno and fellow Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro squared off openly at the recently concluded Philippine Women’s Judges Association event. While there is obviously no love lost between these two (de Castro testified against Sereno at the proceedings in the House), it has not been as openly public as it was a few days ago.

Sereno was invited to give the keynote speech at the event and as she did she tackled her upcoming legal battles and said unequivocally that she has no intention of standing down due to the “lies and bullying”, but was instead going to fight. While this elicited cheers from her fellow women judges in attendance, it did nothing for her already bitter feud with de Castro who casually followed her speech by saying the Chief Justice should not have discussed court matters that are still ongoing in public.

To say the tension in the air was palpable was an understatement and those in attendance actually grew quite uncomfortable watching these two women argue, politely, in front of everyone. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of what we are going to see if and/or when the impeachment case moves forward.

Personally I reiterate that I would prefer action to finally happen as opposed to all this tension building waiting. If they feel they have enough to impeach Sereno than stop wasting everyone’s time and get to it. The only explanation I can think of for the delay is that there is not enough evidence of an impeachable offense which is why they are delaying and looking for something more. Stop dragging this out. There are far bigger and more important problems in the country.