The decision to set aside the move to import  300,000 metric tons  of rice  from  Vietnam  under a government-to-government scheme  will  save some P8.5 billion that can now be used for  more urgent needs of the nation.

The  Philippines  had  planned  to buy the 300,000 tons of rice as a reserve in case the country incurs  a shortage of the Filipino people’s staple  food.   It did not want  to  go  through  the  difficult experience of 2018 when  market prices hit record heights – an inflation rate of 6.7 percent – that  was  stopped  only when Congress enacted the Rice Tariffication  Law that ended all quantitative restrictions on rice imports. With  cheap  rice available at a low price, inflation quickly dropped in succeeding months;  by June, 2019, it was down  to 2.7 percent.

With  the decision to cancel  this year’s planned importation,  Secretary of Agriculture  William Dar said  the government  will  have  P8.5 billion that  can be  used instead  to support  the  Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) under the Rice Tariffication  Law.  The RCEF calls for a mechanization program to help farmers acquire  production  and  harvest  machinery and equipment, promote  the development and  use of  certified seed varieties,  expanded credit assistance, and enhanced extension services.

 There is now, however, a  problem  over  government  budgeting  because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.  The Philippine  budget  deficit  soared in May  as  tax revenues  fell  and  government spending  rose. The   budget  deficit  in May reached  P202.1 billion, where there had been a P2.6-billion surplus in May of the previous year, 2019.

Government expenditures in May reached P353.6 billion –up 12 percent  from P314.7billion in May of the previous  year.  These included  releases  under the law on  Bayanihan to Heal as One,  including cash grants to over 3 million employees  of small enterprises affected by the government’s quarantine measures.  Primary  government  spending  also  jumped to  P335.3 billion from P295 billion in the previous  year.  At  the same time, government income fell by 52 percent  in May, due to the closure or suspension of many business operations.

Thus, Secretary Dar  may not get his wish that  the P8.5 billion saved in the decision to scrap this year’s rice importation from Vietnam be used instead  to push rice farm modernization. There simply are so  many emergency   expenses  arising  from  the  coronavirus  pandemic  that  that must be funded.

But this should  not  detract  from  the  fact that  the  Philippine rice industry  needs to rise to higher levels  of  development as it occupies a  central role in the Philippine  economy.  Whatever happens in the  country, Filipinos  simply need to have their  rice.

We have the needed  resources – the land, water, high-yielding varieties developed by our own scientists. Studies have shown that the principal need  of  our  rice industry is increased  mechanization –  tractors and harvesters.  That  is why in the Rice  Competitiveness and Enhancement  Fund,  50 percent  of its proposed P10-billion annual appropriation is to be for farm machinery and equipment.  The balance is 30 percent for rice seed development and propagation, 10  percent  for expanded credit assistance, and 10 percent for extension services.

When  this  coronavirus  emergency is  over,  hopefully within  a year, our officials should make an all-out effort  to  fund  the  RCEF, especially  its  mechanization program, so we can become sufficient in rice, our nation’s  staple food.