Farmers claim they are worst hit by rice crisis
In the hinterland village of Osorio in San Remigio town in Antique, families eat rice only once a day. They subsist mainly on sweet potatoes and other root crops mixed with vegetables.
In Igbaras town in Iloilo, farmers grown and sell peanuts so that they could buy rice for their families while in Ibajay town in Aklan, farmers sell livestock like chicken, goats and pigs to make ends meet.
Farmers who till the land and plant palay are bearing the brunt of the increasing prices of rice, according to participants of a multi-sectoral summit on rice sufficiency held here last Friday.
The summit, spearheaded by the People's Network for Rice Sufficiency and attended by around 100 representatives of farmers, rice traders, government employees, local officials, urban poor and professionals, assessed the impact on the rising prices on various sectors and firmed up calls to address the crisis.
Carl Ala, public information officer of the farmers group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, belied government pronouncements denying a crisis in rice supply.
"If there is no crisis, why are the prices of rice continuing to increase despite rice importations?" Ala said at the sidelines of the summit.
Estelita Bamo of the Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-Unlad ng Agrikultura (Masigag) said average rice prices have increased from P25 per kilo to P31 per kilo in Iloilo.
"We have to grow peanuts and breed livestock so that we can afford to buy rice," said Bamo.
Bienvenidido Eleccion, 48, a members of the Alyansa sang nga Mangunguma sa Igbaras, said the price of rice "just keeps on going up."
He said because of the higher price, poor families usually can only afford to buy three kilos of rice at a time.
Estelita Magluyan of Ibajay town in Aklan said rice prices in their area have risen from P55 per ganta to P75 per ganta (P24.40 per kilo to P33.30 per kilo).
She said this is too high for many farmers who do not have land of their own and who have to work as hired farm hands at P100 per day.
The farmers said the cheaper rice sold by the National Food Authority has failed to alleviate their plight.
Bernie Cerbo, council member of the indigenous people's group Tumandok, which groups communities in the hinterland villages of Tapaz and Jamindan towns in Capiz, said villagers have to walk for a day to reach NFA rice outlets at the town centers.
He said it is difficult for villagers to avail of the cheaper rice because they are only allowed to buy five kilos at a time.
Agriculture and NFA officials have earlier assured the supply of rice in Western Visayas citing the position of the region as a palay exporter.
But data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics collated by the Inquirer.net from September 2007 to March 2008, showed that Iloilo has the most expensive well-milled rice at P28.71 per kilo on the average, for the indicated period.
Prices of rice at the Iloilo City Terminal Market (ICTM) is up from P22-28 per kilo in March to P29 to P34 per kilo this month.
Pentecoste Arguillon, a rice retailer at the ICTM, said he is buying a sack of rice at P1,620, up from from P1,280 last month.
"While there has been no increase for three days, we're not sure if this will continue because it's still a long way before harvest," said Arguillon.
The KMP has warned that the continued increase of rice prices could trigger unrests including riots if the prices are not controlled and lowered in the next two months.
"We do not want chaos to happen that's why we are calling on the government to impose the price control," said Ala.
Ala said the government should "run after and crack the rice cartel instead of just the small traders who really do not control the supply."
He said that the price control is imperative because the price of rice has increased by an average of P8 to P10 per kilo since February and could reached from P60-P70 per kilo by June or July.
Ala said the the government should also increase the procurement price of the NFA to help the farmers and so that it can have enough rice stock to have an impact on the pricing in the market.