Friday, 05 November 2021, in the Facebook sharing of Levie Isha, the above caption says: “Established 05 November 1985 – Philippine Rice Research Institute – as response of President Ferdinand Marcos to make the Philippines bountiful in rice” (my translation). That was via Executive Order 1061, s198
WHEREAS, rice is the most important crop in the country, being the staple food of eighty (80%) percent of the population, and rice farming is a major source of employment in the rural sector.
The other Whereases point to the following:
(1) “Substantial progress in the “use of high-yielding cultivars, fertilizers, pesticides and judicious water management, has been achieved in the country.”
(2) “Continuous emergence of new problems of biological and socio-economic nature.”
(3) “Problems in rice productivity are further aggravated by the rising costs of farm inputs and by the continuous reduction of per capita cultivated land.”
And setting up PhilRice would “unify the efforts of various agencies and institutions working on rice research and development to generate an in-depth approach to the present and future problems specific to the Philippines.”
And so, with the wise leadership of Santiago R Obien (SRO) as Executive Director, PhilRice rose from unknown to world class, and this was phenomenal because of the presence in Los Baños of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) that was richly funded in dollars by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations and already 25 years old at that time.
Via the EO, PhilRice had these:
Purposes and Objectives. – The Institute shall develop, in coordination with the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB), a national rice research program so as to sustain and further improve the gains already made in rice production, improve the income and economic condition of small rice farmers, expand employment opportunities in the rural areas, and ultimately promote the general welfare of the people through self-sufficiency in rice production.
“Self-sufficiency” – yes. Today, I can see the “gentle contradiction” in those words, as it mandates PhilRice to “ultimately promote the general welfare of the people through self-sufficiency in rice.” That is to say, the EO saw the main objective of PhilRice bringing the Philippines to self-sufficiency in rice alone.
Unfortunately, rice self-sufficiency was an insufficient long-term target, as has been proven by history in the last 36 years since the birth of PhilRice.
I believe the ideal target of PhilRice should have been Food Security, which would have mandated PhilRice to “improve the income and economic condition of small rice farmers, expand employment opportunities in the rural areas, and ultimately promote the general welfare of the people” notlimited to rice sufficiency.
That is to say, PhilRice could have been even more successful in carrying out its duties following its avowed mandate – if it was for food security, not limited to rice sufficiency.@517
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