In the Philippines, importing rice has long been controversial but food shortages may force the government’s hand

The Philippines has long touted the idea of self-sufficiency in rice, an essential staple at the heart of every breakfast, lunch and dinner. But rice growers like Efraen Serrano know that dream is falling further out of reach. The country’s geography doesn’t provide enough suitable land for the crop as the population swells. Urbanisation and the pull to work in cities have reduced the number of farmers. “More farms are being converted to factories and homes,” said Serrano, who farms a five-acre family plot in Bulacan, a quickly urbanising province north of Manila. “Nobody wants to buy land and use it to farm.” Listen to the Asian Briefing podcast’s deep dive on the Philippines The 66-year-old has become resigned to the fact less and less of the rice Filipinos eat will be grown by farmers like him. “Imports are a necessity,” he said. In the clearest sign yet he is right, the country has ended a two-decades-old cap on private-sector imports of the grain. The move marks a radical change for a nation whose obsession with rice is ordinarily matched by its protection of domestic producers. “Importation is always sensitive because rice is the No. 1 agricultural sector,” said Ramon Clarete, a professor of economics at the University of the Philippines Diliman. But resistance to buying more of it abroad has lifted in recent months, following a bout of severe inflation that sparked long lines in the streets for government-subsidised rice. It’s hard to overstate the importance of rice in the Philippines. The country of 105 million is the world’s sixth-largest consumer of rice on a per capita basis, according to the US Department of Agriculture. “Rice is life in the Philippines,” said Nicholas Mapa, a senior economist in Manila for ING. “Almost everything comes from rice. Even our delicacies are based on the grain.” Almost everything comes from rice. Even our delicacies are based on the grain Nicholas Mapa, economist When politicians want to curry favour in poor neighbourhoods, they come bearing sacks of rice. Service stations offer free bags of it with any purchases of about US$10. And one of the nation’s most popular restaurant chains, Mang Inasal, is famed for its “unlimited rice” – a menu option better known as “unli” (Filipinos have a penchant for shortening words. McDonald’s, for example, is simply called McDo). One of the most legendary varieties of rice, IR8, was developed at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. Dubbed “magic rice,” the high-yield strain is credited with fending off famine across Southeast Asia and India starting in the 1960s. “Even if you have no ulam, you have to have rice. It’s a priority,” said 36-year-old Jaquelin Marsan, using the Tagalog word for a dish of meat or vegetable. She lives with her husband and their eight children – aged seven months to 19 years – in a ramshackle Manila slum of scavenged wood and corrugated sheet metal homes called Del Pan Binondo. Two-fifths of their meagre income is spent on rice. During the surge in rice prices last year, she had to cut back the family’s consumption by a quarter. “The children complained,” Marsan said. “So my husband and I ate less.” Economists blamed the crisis on new taxes, costlier fuel and a failure on the government’s part to restock rice reserves in time. Rice, staple food of billions, could become less nutritious because of climate change As criticism mounted about his administration’s handling of the shortage, President Rodrigo Duterte deflected blame and focused his scorn on other players such as rice traders. “I now ask all the rice hoarders, cartels and their protectors,” the president said with a menacing glare during his State of the Nation address last year. “Stop messing with the people.” The crisis harked back to a more severe shortage in 2008 in which President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo deployed armed soldiers to watch over rice distribution and ordered fast-food chains to reduce their rice portions by half. Prices today have since tapered. Fearing a repeat, the Philippine Senate passed a bill in November lifting the import cap and providing funds to cushion the blow on the shrinking domestic rice farming industry. The bill became law Friday, and the law will take effect March 3. Economic reformers and the country’s central bank have long championed lifting the import quota, which was supposed to protect farmers but instead led to rampant smuggling and left the country vulnerable to price manipulation by domestic rice traders. Under World Trade Organisation rules, the Philippines was obliged to eventually eliminate the cap – which stands at about 888,000 tons, or about 6 per cent of the nation’s annual consumption. But the country had been winning waivers to keep it by arguing for more time to reach self-sufficiency. Resistance to the change came from vested interests in the agricultural sector and parts of the powerful National Food Authority, an agency charged with importing and maintaining the country’s rice reserves for the poor – a mandate that put officials there in an ideal position to accept kickbacks. The agency did not respond to an interview request. A spokesman for the president’s office also did not respond to a request for comment. You can raise the price of gasoline, water and electricity, but not rice Jorge Tigno, University of the Philippines Diliman Even with the cap in place, the Philippines is the world’s second-largest importer of rice after China, giving it the power to move global grain markets. Now major rice-producing nations such as Vietnam and Thailand stand to benefit from the lifting of the quota, even with the Philippines’ 35 per cent tariff on Southeast Asian rice imports. The move to increase imports could also bolster Duterte’s PDP-Laban political party heading into midterm election in May. Rice prices disproportionately affect the poorest Filipinos, a crucial voting bloc. Nearly half their food expenditures go toward the staple, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. “You can raise the price of gasoline, water and electricity, but not rice,” said Jorge Tigno, a professor of political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman. “It’s the only commodity politicians are not allowed to sacrifice.”

In the Philippines, importing rice has long been controversial but food shortages may force the government’s hand

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Resistance to buying rice abroad has eased in recent months, following a bout of severe inflation The Philippines is the world’s second-largest importer of rice after China

Resistance to buying rice abroad has eased in recent months, following a bout of severe inflation

The Philippines is the world’s second-largest importer of rice after China