PH rice farmer leaders keep raising their voices, decrying that the Rice Tariffication Law, RTL, is killing the farmers. And yes, they are planning a national rally against the RTL, which means essentially against Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez who insists on the wisdom of the RTL: "No Turning Back On Rice Trade Lib – DoF Chief[1]." And against head of the Department of Agriculture, DA, William Dar/Manong Willie, who is 100% sold on the RTL and is implementing the DA's part. They are The Darling Ones of PH Agriculture.
The Daring Ones are the farmer leaders. "Rice Tariffication Law Worse Than Yolanda, Says Rice Farmers Alliance[2]." They are growing louder, shouting that the RTL is decimating farmers. Or, at the very least, the RTL is keeping farmers poor. And that is what Rachel Renucci-Tan of Dalisay Rice is responding to (words on image):
Farmers in the Philippines are poor because of many factors. One of which is because they are trapped in (a) vicious cycle of debt, and they lack the financial capacity to buy inputs for their farm. Further, the poverty of rice farmers is not the result of plummeting palay farmgate price. Rice farmers' poverty is caused by a confluence of deeply rooted factors that pre-date the Rice Tariffication Law.
In 69 words, that is a whole lecture to PH farmer leaders. I repeat the very last sentence: "Rice farmers' poverty is caused by a confluence of deeply rooted factors that pre-date the Rice Tariffication Law."
In the meantime, as Dalisay Rice has shown, among other things, what PH Agriculture needs is Big Business partnering with small farmers to produce rice for the benefit of all parties.
I have written so far 7 essays on Dalisay Rice – see the list and click the links in my 7th essay, "The Rise Of Rices? Dalisay Rice & BigasPh[3]." (Am I a PR man for Dalisay Rice? No, I much believe in the product and how it is produced – favoring the farmers. So, when I say Miss Rachel is The Brave One, it comes from the heart!)
The above image says, after her name, "Chen Yi Agventures (CYA)" – CYA is the company that her husband Italian Patrick Renucci and she Filipina-Chinese own that produces "Dalisay Rice" in Alangalang, Leyte. The entire operation, from harvesting grains to packaging milled rice, is mechanized, the grains untouched by human hands. The farmers own their lands; their ownership, or lack of it, is untouched by the agreement that they produce for Dalisay Rice and follow strict protocols. The palay is processed in the P1.7 billion rice processing complex in Alangalang, the biggest such in Southeast Asia. The rice price the farmers get? Good! And there is no case of 5-6 lending for Dalisay Rice.
Here, CYA has given us a combined lesson in production, processing and marketing of rice:
"Do your business equally in favor of the poor farmers!"
I wish the farmer leaders opened their big mouths to help their members big!@517
[1] https://journal.com.ph/specials/business/no-turning-back-rice-trade-lib-dof-chief
[2] https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/18/19/rice-tariffication-law-worse-than-yolanda-says-rice-farmers-alliance
[3] https://iparadigmshifts.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-rise-of-rices-dalisay-rice-bigasph.html
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