Food Security: The Litmus Test of True Leadership

INFOWARS
Herman Tiu Laurel
3/24/2008



The worsening rice crisis today brings to light Filipino leaders' focus, or lack thereof, on the fundamental issue of national food self-reliance. Over the past four decades, the Philippines has enjoyed some self-sufficiency in its staple rice supply during Marcos' time--a fact that somehow cannot be remembered, much less, acknowledged by his incorrigible critics. The only other time when food self-sufficiency was ever made a national goal was during President Joseph E. Estrada's brief two and a half year stint when he championed food security as one of the country's top priorities. Again, rabid anti-Estrada barkers never focused on this important aspect of his governance as they preferred to demonize him with unfounded issues without end.

In contrast, Fidel V. Ramos, exalted by the Edsa Uno and Edsa Dos crowds, espoused the cultivation of "high value crops" such as black pepper and cut flowers for export. In turn, domestic planting of rice, corn, wheat, and other staples, which enjoyed surplus production in other countries, notably western ones like the U.S.A., were discouraged outright. Such a lopsided program was pursued by his rotund agriculture secretary, Roberto Sebastian. Ostensibly, this campaign was built on the principle of "globalized agriculture" wherein countries like the Philippines would become dependent on others for basic commodities. It became no accident then that the "rice pila" (queuing for rice), last seen during the Second World War, hit our country in 1996.

FVR's globalization logic went this way: the U.S. produces surplus rice and even has a program of donating rice supplies to countries in need, so why bother planting these when a country can get them so much cheaper from outside? Marcos didn't buy such mendicant mentality and insisted on self-sufficiency, prioritizing irrigation construction and rice exportation in 1968 even before collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute was formalized. Similarly, Imelda Marcos displayed more food sense, promoting vegetable planting in traffic islands and backyard food gardening to provide for the poor's needs.

FVR's policies certainly go back to Corazon C. Aquino who took the first steps to globalization when she deferred or cancelled thousands of water impounding projects in the Marcos era mini-hydros program, which used to provide cheap rural power. Mrs. Aquino paid lip service to irrigation construction but actually kowtowed to the West's demands to curtail it by cancelling vital hydroelectric dam projects such as Laiban, San Casecnan, San Roque and Chico. Her centerpiece "Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law" didn't help either as it limited government funding of CARP infrastructure (including irrigation) to only 25% while requiring 75% to be sourced from international funding, which dried up when global NGO's campaigned against World Bank loans and grants for hydroelectric dams. FVR revived the dam projects alright, but only to privatize and overprice them through his infamous Independent Power Producer contracts.

President Estrada, on the other hand, drew up one of his finest programs, the Carabao Breeding program, despite ridicule and belittlement from Ivy League "economists." That initiative led to the establishment of the Carabao Breeding Center in Nueva Ecija, which has shown resounding success. Even FVR's sister Leticia Shahani eagerly joined in and marveled at the increase in Carabao milk production for "kesong puti" and particularly, for mozzarella cheese for which it is most suited. If only Estrada's support for the Carabao program had continued uninterrupted, we could already be halfway in cutting the $ 500-M imports annually.

Throughout the two and a half year-government of Estrada, I was a critic out of my journalistic duty, despite having voted for him; but I turned to help his administration without even meeting him in year 2000 when it become obvious he was being victimized for some of his independent policies--among which was his "food security" program. His dedication continued even while in detention when he conceived his "Rebolusyon Kontra Gutom" to convey the continuing urgency of food security. To this day, Estrada has continued to distribute vegetable seeds and starter piglets to farm communities.

The food policy of a Philippine leader reveals more than what superficial political diatribes can bring out. While the demonization of Marcos and Estrada dominates Philippine media, their vital programs and advocacies are deliberately evaded, skirted or even suppressed. The fact that the two advocated the correct policies in many vital areas of governance, where Cory, FVR and Gloria all failed because of their adherence to the foreign diktats from Washington, is clearly a source of embarrassment for Edsa Uno and Dos apologists; hence, the incessant demonization. I have challenged Billy Esposo and Tony Abaya to public debates on these issues, yet they continue to hide behind mainstream media's anti-Marcos and Estrada mantra.

What the Filipino people and their compatriot OFW's should begin to appreciate is the geopolitics behind the Philippine political leaders' actions and the intellectual debates behind them. Being an economy primarily dependent on the U.S. and Japan, a vast majority of the Philippine intelligentsia is beholden to Western funding through academic or corporate, direct and indirect sponsorships, making independent thought among the Filipino intelligentsia increasingly rare. As I often say, the peasant with his one hectare-rice farm is more independent of mind than the economics scholars of U.P. or Ateneo because these two won't have their bowl of rice if they don't sell themselves while the farmer will have at least his own after the harvest.

The continuing Philippine food dependency can only be understood with a study of Henry Kissinger's "National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests" and King George VI of Britain's 1944 Royal Commission on Population, which aimed "to consider what measures should be taken in the national interest to influence the future trend of population." These two studies found population growth in the Third World as a threat to their countries' national security because, "a populous country has decided advantages over a sparsely-populated one for industrial production" as what China and India are showing today.

Kissinger's memo asked: "Would food be considered an instrument of national power...Is the U.S. prepared to accept food rationing to help people who can't/won't control their population growth?" As such, thirteen countries were targeted for population and food control: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Kissinger's memo translated into USAID-funded UN and local population control programs and a slash in IMF-WB funding for irrigation which hit hard Cory Aquino's 75% foreign sourcing CARP. It doomed Philippine agriculture to perpetual shortages and dependence on imports, defenseless against food being used as a weapon through global supply and price manipulation--just as she did when she started the process of privatization of oil and energy.

The Philippines continues to pay a dear price for allowing its leaders' subservience to U.S. diktats to keep the country dependent on food imports (hence, smuggling). The loss of independent political leadership to two U.S. & local oligarch plus mainstream media-engineered coup d'etats disguised as "people power" prevented a breakaway from centuries-old food import dependency. Now, a global food crisis is certain to cause growing famine in the Philippines, making an explosion of true people power from the hungry population of millions inevitable.

The third quarter of the year is traditionally the time when the rice crisis hits so we should begin to see new convulsions of the social volcano by then. But the prevailing globalist mindset among those in power and in the opposition offers no solution to the problem that requires long-term programs for national self-sufficiency. Visionary leaders and soldiers must pick up the cudgels in restoring our country's self-sustainability. It will be another chance for this revolutionary option to offer itself -- if it articulates a program well enough for all to hear.

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