Where prosperity begins

It would be the first time in recent memory that Filipinos are not losing sleep over a shortage or the high prices of rice despite an El Niño event.

So what was the difference between now and then that stabilized supply despite prices remaining a problem.

A combination of skillful diplomacy and targeted policies had a lot to do with the stable market. The recent signing of a five-year deal with Vietnam removed supply uncertainties that in the past was exploited by unscrupulous dealers who created artificial shortages to inflate prices.

Despite the rice tariffication law that freed up grains trading for private importers, a temporary suspension of rice sales from India in July last year fueled a price shock after supplies became scarce.

An inspection of major warehouses by a team that included members of the House of Representatives led by Speaker Martin Romualdez revealed overflowing rice stocks that suggested hoarding.

Marcos then imposed a price cap that flushed out the stockpiles. With the onset of El Niño, another attempt was made at an artificial shortage but this was repelled through the Vietnam deal.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. was so confident about having a stable supply even at the peak of the dry season during the first half of the year.

“We have enough rice supply so prices should remain stable through the first half of the year. Our priority now is market stability,” he said.

Laurel said a favorable supply and prices are guaranteed until June despite the dire outlook of the El Niño lasting until the second quarter of the year.

Laurel said rice prices are expected to remain high through September but an improved harvest and the stream of Vietnam rice are expected to counter any price spike.

“What we need to guard against now are profiteers who may attempt to exploit the situation by using El Niño as an excuse to hoard the rice supply to push local prices to unreasonably high levels,” he said.

Vietnam had committed to supply the Philippines with rice under a memorandum of understanding signed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Hanoi in January.

Under the MoU, Vietnam will ship 1.5 million to 2 million metric tons of white rice per year at an affordable price.

According to the DA, India also vowed additional rice supplies to the country despite its export ban on non-basmati rice.

With the trade pact was the record palay output in 2023 of 20.06 million metric tons, from 19.76 million MT a year ago.

With the improved palay yield, the rice import volume last year fell to 3.5 million MT, from 3.8 million MT in 2022.

The DA is now improving its record keeping that will result in the more efficient distribution of government assistance.

The agency is updating its electronic database of farmers and fisherfolk to get it in step with the government digitalization thrust.

The DA wants to put all the 10 million farmers and fisherfolk, many of whom were identified as the poorest in the country, in the database.

Two years ago, the DA started to upgrade its management information system to enhance the monitoring of projects and interventions, and facilitate real-time recording of agri-fishery information.

Laurel is advocating for the full digitalization of DA operations as a way to propel the economic status of farmers and fisherfolk.

With one in four Filipinos working on farms, increasing their income would result in increased income that would, in turn, spur the creation of industries in the countryside, which was how the industrialized nations started to achieve their lofty global status.