One of the many promises of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his campaign was to slash the price of rice down to P20 per kilo. The policy, Marcos said, entails the government imposing price caps and liberalizing the agriculture sector. While consumers stand to benefit from lower prices, farmers’ groups denounced the policy as it will only aggravate the already declining economy of the Philippines.

“Marcos Jr.’s pronouncement is a fat lie,” Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) Chairperson Danilo Ramos said. He explained that the proposal had already been implemented before by the late dictator Marcos Sr. but failed, costing the government P18 million in just two years.

Now that Marcos won the presidency, his administration pitched various reforms targeted at the agricultural sector, including the reinstatement of the Kadiwa system, which originated from the Marcos Sr. administration. The system enabled the establishment of stores in every barangay selling various agri-fishery products for a lower price.

Under the system, farmers were only receiving P16 pesos a day while the price of rice was at P5.35 per kilo. The government was unable to sustain the project as stores would often have no stocks left during the latter years of Kadiwa’s implementation.

Former National Economic and Development Authority chief Karl Chua said that lowering the price of rice to the level claimed by Marcos Jr. is possible by increasing rice importation, further legitimizing the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) that already liberalized grains trading and forced farmers to lower their prices to compete with foreign products.

But to create long-term solutions, Ramos believes that the only sustainable way to make rice cheaper is to invest in local industries in order to increase its production.  

“Para bumaba ang presyo ng bigas, nararapat na paunlarin ang lokal na produksyon ng pagkain gaya ng palay, mais, gulay, isda, baboy at manok. Hindi dapat importasyon ang sagot,” Ramos said in an interview with the Collegian.

Refuting the Promise

In his State of the Nation Address, Marcos laid, in broad strokes, his plan to liberalize the agriculture sector. For Cathy Estavillo of Bantay Bigas, trade liberalization will only worsen the situation of farmers. 

“Nakita natin three years after the implementation [of RTL], talagang bumaba ang presyo ng bigas at naging P7 per kilo ang benta ng mga magsasaka,” she said. “Pero, hindi naman bumaba ang presyo [ng bigas] sa palengke. Yang importasyon ay nagresulta lamang sa napakalaking trade deficit sa agriculture at nagpahirap sa mga magsasaka.” 

A study by economic think-tank IBON Foundation revealed that the net income of farmers per hectare decreased by 38 percent compared to their income after RTL was implemented, showing how farmers’ livelihoods were put to detriment during the Duterte administration.

Groups like KMP and Bantay Bigas have long called for the national government to help farmers increase their production by stepping up production subsidies and implementing genuine land reform policies. These, for them, would resolve the long-standing systemic ills of the agricultural sector that past administrations have skirted around.

Unlike genuine agrarian reform, the current Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program still proved to be burdensome for farmers. Most agrarian reform beneficiaries must still pay for amortization, which only leads to them being buried in debt. What the farmers need is for the lands to be distributed free of charge.

“Issuing an executive order prohibiting land-use conversion for at least two years will effectively protect more than 4.84 hectares of agricultural lands awarded to farmer-beneficiaries,” former Agriculture Secretary Rafael Mariano said in a previous statement.

In his speech to Congress, Marcos said he will only suspend the collection of agrarian reform repayment for one year, but leaves it up to Congress to eliminate the policy altogether. The legislation for such a plan has yet to be released.

“Ang pinaka-ugat na food crisis ay deka-dekadang kapabayaan sa industriya ng agrikultura. Napakaliit din ng budget na nilalaan at kasama pa rito ang kawalan ng lupa ng mga magsasaka,” Estavillo said. “Despite sa reforms ni Aquino na CARP, hindi talaga napamahagi ang karamihan sa mga lupa.”

Land Reform Remains a Work in Progress

Controlling the price of rice among other things is only a precursor to improving the agricultural sector. While price control may be part of the solution, the implementation of genuine agrarian reform is still vital in solving the systemic ills farmers are facing. 

Farmers have been clamoring for genuine land reform for decades already, yet the Duterte administration slapped them with an even more burdensome circumstance when RTL was implemented.

Under Duterte, a total of 142,806 hectares of land were given to farmers, the lowest distribution since 2005, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The Arroyo and Aquino administrations distributed 313,778 and 320,916 hectares, respectively.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III, who is the grandson of Marcos Sr.’s agrarian reform minister, vowed that land distribution, amortization, and support services for the farmers will be prioritized during the Marcos administration. Estrella, however, has yet to lay out his concrete plans for the department.

“Ang pinakadahilan kung bakit palaging kapos ang nililikha ng ating magsasaka ay sa kakulangan ng lupa. Ang inaasahan ng mga magsasaka sa administrasyong Marcos ay dapat masiguro na may genuine agrarian reform—buwagin ang malalawak na lupain at ipamahagi ng libre,” Estavillo said.

In the legislative arena, Bantay Bigas and KMP are pushing for the passage of a Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) and the Rice Industry Development Act (RIDA).

Makabayan bloc lawmakers refiled GARB to distribute land to the farmers, as well as provide financial support. This allows agricultural lands exceeding five hectares to be distributed to the farmers free of charge. Meanwhile, peasant groups such as the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women petitioned for the enactment of RIDA. The groups emphasized the role of RIDA in addressing the issues of agricultural production.

Although the bills have been refiled, they still have a long way to go. The progressive bloc files GARB and RIDA every Congress yet their enactment remains elusive. While Marcos made no mention of land reform as one of his 19-point legislative agenda, GARB and RIDA remain in Makabayan bloc’s pet bills this 19th Congress.

With another Marcos in power, Estavillo said groups like Bantay Bigas and KMP will remain as watchdogs to ensure that the agricultural policies will benefit the farmers.

“Talagang magbabantay kami kung ano man ang polisiya na ipatupad ni Marcos. Patuloy naming igigiit ang batayang kahilingan gaya ng kasiguraduhan sa ating pagkain at ang pagpapalakas ng lokal na produksyon.  Dahil ang isyu ng pagkain ay isyu rin ng mamamayang Pilipino,” she said. ●