The Arroyo govt in denial
The current rice situation is already in a state of crisis precisely because the country’s staple has ceased to be -according to the standard set by the National Food Authority- ‘affordable, available and accessible.’

Despite the sky-rocketing prices of commercial rice and the long lines at NFA retail stores, the government would still deny the crisis and its root causes.  Call it a crisis or not, the government approaches the rice problem with such arrogance, and has offered only band-aid solutions, that have no indication of any sustainability, and any prospect of lowering rice prices in the near or far future.

The government is quick to blame the traders, when it hides on the background its policies that pave the way for cartel operations and the declining rice production in the country.  This crisis that is brought about the overdependence on the importation of food, and an agriculture that is geared mainly towards the production of raw materials for export, has put on the forefront the long-running problems that beset our agriculture and farmers –lack of irrigation, lack of subsidy on the production of our farmers, land use and crop conversion, and the monopoly of land by a few land owners and transnational corporations, to name a few.

The debate does not stop on whether there is enough supply of rice in the country or not.  The question the government has to answer is whether this supposed supply would be made affordable and accessible to the public, and whether our economy could be geared towards self-sufficiency, so that it could secure rice and other food products for our people.

When the government’s response to a compelling demand for an immediate price control is “It’s a free enterprise” and Gloria rolling stores, then we could not expect much.  When this same government is tangled with multiple scams including the irregularities in fertilizer, irrigation and swine funds, then it is in deep trouble.

Then we understand why this government under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would not even at least admit the very obvious in the country’s rice situation.