Rice self-sufficiency

Still in Baguio.

A rice farmer once told me the only thing NFA rice was good for, was for feeding to his pigs. I myself went through a period when I bought NFA rice but it was of such low quality that I gave up. The real question is whether rice can only be affordable if it’s of such miserable quality, or whether the government could provide quality but affordable rice. Surely it can do both, though even as it is, the growing number of people who subsist on instant noodles (easier to prepare, etc.) shows just how relative the idea of affordability is. Which raises a question: is pouring government funds into subsidizing poor-quality rice, the best way to support farmers and enable access to cheap food?

Again, an article I’ve been wanting to point to, for some time: Rice “self-sufficiency” for whom? in Philippines Without Borders.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

146 thoughts on “Rice self-sufficiency

  1. i.n.e., this study by the PIDS says ( www3.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps0513.pdf ) that it’s because Thailand simply has more land.

    The country faces a major productivity challenge: there is nearly across-the-board productivity gap vis-à-vis competitor/reference countries. The rice yield in the Philippines is 1/2 of China; 7/10 of Indonesia and Vietnam; 3/4 of developing Asia average; higher than Thailand but the latter has more land. Rice yield must grow by at least two and half times higher from 2003–2020 than during the 1990s in order to ensure self-sufficiency without increasing hectarage.

    Improving substantially the country’s agricultural productivity in the face of limited physical agricultural land involves not only investing in irrigation to allow for at least double cropping but also better varieties and improved farming practices through agricultural research, development, and extension (RD&E). In China and India, agricultural research and development (R&D) is the most important contributor to agricultural productivity and growth.

  2. Last week ay bumili kami ng NFA rice at ok naman ang lasa niya. Mahaba nga yung pila sa “Tindahan ni Gloria” kaya two kilos of rice per person lang ang pwede. Sabi ninyo na hindi edible ‘yung NFA, ewan ko, siguro ay hindi ko pa natsatsambahan ‘yung lasang ipis na rice na sinasabi ninyo (kung mangyari man ‘yun ay tiyak na masusuka ako).

    Sa palagay ko hindi lang basta subsidyo ang dapat ibigay ng gobyerno sa mga magsasaka para masulusyonana ang krisis sa bigas. Dapat din ay siguruhin din ng gobyerno ang welfare ng mga magsasaka, gandahan ang farm to market roads, tigbakin ang mga opurtunistang middlemen para bumaba ang presyo ng bigas, at i-improve ang teknolohiya ng pagsasaka. Sa krisis na ito ay kailangan natin ng long term solutions.

  3. sir karl, mawalang galang na po, pero parang di mo ata naiintindihan ang sinabi ko. hindi ko sinabi, at mas lalo namang hindi ako naniniwala, na ang tao ay kayang mabuhay sa pang-iinsulto lamang. sus naman. ano namang klaseng ugok ang magiisip ng ganun. ang ibig sabihin nung sinulat ko tungkol sa pagiging jack of all trades ay tumutukoy sa mga taong komento ng komento sa lahat ng topic na kala mo eksperto sa lahat. ang bawat tao ay mayroong kadalubhasaan sa iilang disiplina; ngunit ang magpresenta bilang eksperto sa LAHAT (sa tulong ng google at wikipedia, no doubt) ay lubhang nakakatawa sa akin.

    at wala ngang masama sa pagbibigay ng opinyon, e bakit pala pinagsasabihan ako niyan? Di ba’t opinyon din ang sa akin? Ang opinyon ko, nakakatawa ang nagbbigay ng opinyon sa lahat ng topic na para bagang bihasa sila sa lahat ng mga topic na iyon. At mas lalong nakakatawa na ang marami sa mga pumapapel na eksperto ay mga wala naman dito sa pinas. katulad ng una kong sinabi, magsiuwian na lang sila dito, nang mapakinabangan natin ang talino nila.

    Kung ang insinuation ay hindi ko dapat punahin ang mga ganun (dahil nga hindi masama magbigay ng opinyon), e di siguro hindi rin ako dapat punahin (dahil nagbibigay din lang ako ng opinyon, di ba?). Ah, pero opinyon ko lang naman yan.

  4. Two questions of price support for rice farmers. When and in what lifetime has there been price supports for rice farmers to a point that will keep prices at the NFA price support level. Never!! The government cannot provide enough funding to influence the actual farm gate price of palay. Rice comes only after milling. The actual price support only extends to about 10% of palay production. The rest of a farmers production is left to a market that has been described by supply sider theologian Habito as a monopsony. A distorted market.

    Whoever suggests that rice farmers get price supports for their produce must get his facts straight.

    NFA rice is predominantly the 25% broken rice imported by the NFA. That is sold as ordinary rice. Anything at and/or this standard is considered fit for feed-meal for livestock and lugaw. NFA usually sell this rice to traders who then mix this with local rice to give it better look and taste.

    You have the other varieties at 15% and 5% broken and the long grain fragrant rice. The best in the world is Basmati which retails for over Php 90 a kg. You will find cooked grains in this type almost a inch long.

    Now as to why rice prices are high in the Philippines. That question of price information is subject to the quantity and quality of the division of labor in the country compared with out neighbors. Division of labor meaning the quantity and quality of the supply chains in the physical production and distribution of rice.

    Here even the actions of the BSP has a direct relationship to the cost of production of rice via the price controls on the cost of money that the BSP imposes. That would be a long story for those that don’t know they don’t know and a short one for those who know.

    Equilibrium economists refer to these as supply bottlenecks. I refer to these differences as the effects of underdeveloped supply chains starting with the four legged beast the carabao to the two legged trader that sets the farm gate prices of palay and eventually rice.

    Farm gate also means FOB at farm.

    The traders used to be formally known in pre-war days as the Binondo Rice Exchange. Their site was the Tutuban Rail Station.

  5. Now as to why rice prices are high in the Philippines. That question of price information is subject to the quantity and quality of the division of labor in the country compared with out neighbors. Division of labor meaning the quantity and quality of the supply chains in the physical production and distribution of rice.

    Here even the actions of the BSP has a direct relationship to the cost of production of rice via the price controls on the cost of money that the BSP imposes – hvrds

    By the above, do you mean that the BSP’s relatively high interest rates discourages business activity that is supposed to result in specialization that eventually brings lower costs? Please correct me if i’m wrong.

  6. Middlemen don’t set the price, the bigger traders do. Most of these traders are Fil-Chinese. If you consider these big traders as middlemen, then middlemen set rice prices.

  7. The government can help the farmers by subsidizing fertilizer prices and other farm inputs, making farm to market access roads better, making the NFA buy more from farmers.

  8. Jon, i have no disagreement with farm to market roads but on fertilizer subsidies, i read that Taiwan did the opposite. The government extracted the surplus from their agricultural sector to fund their industrial development. Economist Alice Amsden narrated how the government set-up a fertilizer monopoly:

    The fertilizer monopoly was the key to extracting surplus from agriculture. Fertilizer was bartered for rice, and the barter ratio was highly unfavorable to farmers. The price that Taiwanese farmers paid for 100 kilograms of ammonium sulfate in 1964-65 was higher by almost 40 percent than the price that Japanese, Dutch, Belgian, American, or Indian farmers paid.

    Kind of like to Coco Levy but put to better use. I think we should encourage productivity increases rather than reward inefficiency.

  9. Sparks, I agree with your take specially on the need to inprove the kind of support farmers are gatting from government.

    Ishmael, I just bought 2 Kilos NFA rice at the FTI where NFA has an Office/wharehouse. NFA retailed in the market usually come from Vietnam. In fairness, P18/k NFA rice is better than the P23/K commercial rice. GMA’s NFA rice is better than those before. Unscrupulous traders re-sack/re-pack and sell NFA rice as commercial rice at P23/k.

    cvj, It’s a matter of prioritizing. As sparks said: “When food security is tantamount to national security, tax payers, at least in rich countries, seem prepared to pay for expensive food.” The lack of or ineffective support, including financial, farmers get from gov’t reflects the kind of priority it gives to agriculture. Throwing billions to ZTE BB deal and DepEd Cyber Edu in the face of a looming food (rice) crisis is tantamount to fiscal reckless imprudence leading to genocide.

  10. Something about the word “self-sufficiency”: you get all the rice you need all year round and perhaps with a little extra… but nothing else on other things.

    For the farmer, it’s really a choice between having a secure supply of rice for his family for the year and a cash crop which could be sold for plenty of money if he gets lucky or which could end up rotten in the field for reason of oversupply, for example. Old farmers would rather have secure rice supply. It is the younger farmers who are taking risks. My farmer-friend relates the story of one fellow farmer who planted all of his farm with eggplant. He got lucky with a Manila-based merchant. He’s got his house renovated, bought a tractor, and a pick-up truck. Not all are lucky though.

  11. On a side note, the prevalence of diabetes in rice-eating regions are making researchers suspicious of rice as causing the disease.

    But diabetes notwithstanding, I am a voracious rice eater, what the heck!

  12. “The government can help the farmers by subsidizing fertilizer prices and other farm inputs, making farm to market access roads better, making the NFA buy more from farmers.”

    Two Words,Fertilzer Scam!

    But seriously,correct me if I am over opining: fertlizer nowadays are made of manure.(i think its methane byproduct are also used for producing power),I have no idea if the farmers will buy that idea,when the scam seems to be forgotten now,but they might remember about it later.

    And one more thing for Taiwan, or copying Taiwan:
    We did exactly that by trying to copy their land reform program,but it seems that we were bad at copying this time around.

  13. Subsidies are actually what the poor countries are complaining against the rich ones. Rich nations subsidize their farmers (not just rice farmers), why not the Philippines if it becomes an issue of national survival?

  14. 3rdson,

    3rdson,sabi mo eh!

    Pero halata namang nagbibiro lang ako ah.
    Sino ba ang nabubuhay na almusal tanghalian hapunan,isali mo na nag merienda ay insulto lang.

    pero paraeho lang tayng paikot ikot,eh!

    Una akong nahilo,kaya surrender na ako sa yo.

    At aminado ako, at sinasabi ko naman, pag pag ginagawa wa ko ah,na nag google o nag wikipedia ako(at marami pang iba dito) ah,peo ako minsan di ko na nililink ang exactong source.Bobo at ang tanga naman siguro ang babanat ng basta basta na wala man lang reference,e di lalo kaming nasupalpal at mas nagmamarunong pag ganun.
    At di ako nahihiyang sabihin na madalas din masupalpal minsan,pero ok lang sa akin,wala naman nawala.

    Pero sarili ko lang ang pinangangatawanan ko.

    Sige,matawa ka na lang,at least hindi ka nalulungkot,di tulad ng iba.

    Wag kang mahiyang ipakita ang iyong galak!

    Hanggang sa muli.

  15. “Subsidies are actually what the poor countries are complaining against the rich ones. Rich nations subsidize their farmers (not just rice farmers), why not the Philippines if it becomes an issue of national survival?”

    Wala daw budget,at madadaggagan daw ang utang.

    I attended a talk by Mr. Vistan and my economics professor,asked about subsidies.(five years ago,wala kasing nagtatanong,lahat gusto ng umuwi)

    The answer was short,the government cannot give what it does not have.(Or something like that)

    Pero tama ka about poor nations complaints.

    Mar Roxas and Lorenzo lead a group of poor nations questioning that agri subsidies.

    Kahit na mas madami ang umangal na poor nations;G8 still control the steering wheel. now, add china and India to those 8.

  16. I was browsing all the comments and no one mentioned about rice cartel.

    The issue is not who is setting the price, the question is who is influencing the price.

    If you have gone to the rice producing provinces, you must have heard about rice storages that go up in smoke when all are quiet except for the mouse.

    Well one, you can blame our so-called “friendly taxmen”from the NPA or from the people who do not aprove of oversupply of rice. Bad for their business.

    And this is not about demand and supply. The demand will always be there since we are a rice-eating nation. It is the supply which should be controlled. And how?

    One time, my friend told me about a ship laden with rice that mysteriously sunk.

    Like the sugar commodity, cheap rice is being smuggled at the back door. To bring the rice to the destination, they’re loaded in high speed boats. Our Patrol Boats. Some of them mysteriously run out of gas.

    What happens to our rice? They’re being exported. Philippines ranked number eight in world rice production.
    http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-rice-producing-countries.html
    And hey we got the best varieties. Thailand just bought that Milagrosa variety from the Philippines long time ago.
    And they use that as brand for the rice exports to US.

    So how come we don’t see rice-from-the-Philippines brand in the market.

    Because in this world of business, there is what you call wholesaling and repacking with branding left to repackers.

    Just like the controversial chopsticks produced in Vietnam, exported to China and Taiwan in their raw forms. The repacking with the Chinese brand make consumers think that it originated from China.

  17. And one more thing for Taiwan, or copying Taiwan: We did exactly that by trying to copy their land reform program,but it seems that we were bad at copying this time around. – Karl

    That’s because our elite was not as serious as the Chinese Nationalists fled to Taiwan after Mao defeated them in the Mainland. What’s left of the Chinese warlords were afraid of a similar peasant uprising in Taiwan so they got serious with land reform, finishing the program in just four years (from 1949 to 1953). That plus the fact that their job was easier because they distributed lands previously owned by the Japanese colonizers and the local landed elite of Taiwan, not their own.

    Leo, i agree that we can do without ZTE type corruption. However, my point of contention is between sticking to rice or switching to other crops that will help the farmer earn more per area cultivated as what Ricelander described above. But then again, maybe we shouldn’t give up yet on increasing productivity when it comes to rice.

  18. hi, rego, sorry hindi ko nabasa kaagad yung reaction mo sa comment ko na one gets what he can afford, including the quality of rice. actually, i was affirming your personal example of how your family gets to eat high quality rice by producing it yourselves (even though your father has a regular job in addition to farming). too bad, in pinas, unlike here in the u.s.,we don’t have food stamps for the poor, or cash aid from ssi, which one can use to get the best kind of food that every other family is eating.

    when every pinoy becomes economically self-sufficient (except for the really kuripot) there will be no demand for rice that taste like “tae ng ipis o daga”. it will just be discarded as unfit for human consumption.

  19. “I was browsing all the comments and no one mentioned about rice cartel”

    I believe HVRDS did,dahil manahba siguro post nya na overlook mo Ms. Cat Cath..at pre war pa ang binaggit nya binondo rice traders.

    “Just like the controversial chopsticks produced in Vietnam, exported to China and Taiwan in their raw forms. The repacking with the Chinese brand make consumers think that it originated from China.”

    We still do it in the elctronic business ma’am,Texas instruments and Intel etc.

    Before ma’am,as you may recall we produce barbie dolls from mattel and still have the made in USA tag.

    Toyota production techniques ma’am,some came from pinoy workers through its Kaizen philosophy.

    In short Ms. Cat Cath,KOREK!

    *******************
    “That’s because our elite was not as serious as the Chinese Nationalists fled to Taiwan after Mao defeated them in the Mainland. What’s left of the Chinese warlords were afraid of a similar peasant uprising in Taiwan so they got serious with land reform, finishing the program in just four years (from 1949 to 1953). That plus the fact that their job was easier because they distributed lands previously owned by the Japanese colonizers and the local landed elite of Taiwan, not their own.”

    If that is the case then abolish DAR and land reform,altogether.

    Di naman mawawala ang rich and powerful elite,unless we move back a century and a half and replan our revolution,and stop the US Hispanic war not in Manila bay but in Cuba.. and make the US a non entity.

    AS IF.

    Even with the rise of the middle class,is it still about the peasants and the elite?

    What is this philosophy? I am not criticizing you cvj,it seems many have this kind of midset.

    Even world wide, where the poor nations complain of agri subsidies of the rich, and not even the combined number of poor nations can do anything but just complain.

  20. Rice self-sufficiency is overrated. What did Filipinos eat during WW 2? I think most eat corn and cassava. So stop this addiction to rice. Let’s raise a generation who eats less rice. Let farmer’s plant high value crops.
    Forget land reform. Just impose the corporate tax on land holdings bigger than 5 hectares. Higher if the land is left idle. Impose a land inheritance tax too.

  21. supremo, i think the only way to accomplish that (if it can be done at all), is to institute draconian measures to make production of rice unlawful (like hash-hish). lol..while we are at it, we can condition our kids to eat bread and cake, from other kinds of cereals, as soon as they are able to take solid food. rice-eating is not uniquely filipino. the whole world does it, some nations (particularly asians) more than others.

    i say, improve the economy, attain self-sufficiency, and let everyone eat what he/she pleases. right MB?

  22. I believe HVRDS did,dahil manahba siguro post nya na overlook mo Ms. Cat Cath..at pre war pa ang binaggit nya binondo rice traders.

    Oh yeah I read that, but he did not mention about the role of the RICE Cartel to the supply and pricing of this basic commodity.

  23. We still do it in the elctronic business ma’am,Texas instruments and Intel etc.

    Before ma’am,as you may recall we produce barbie dolls from mattel and still have the made in USA tag.

    For electronic products, the subcontracting of the parts of a finished is entirely different story from REPACKING.

    Texas instruments and other integrated chips manufacturing supply the materials requirements of the electronic products such as computer, TV and other gadgets.

    The purpose of the subcontracting is of course cheap labor since IC production is labor intensive mostly done by women. Another is not to put all eggs in one basket. So if one supplier from SIngapore can not make the grades for a particular batch, the suppliers from the Philippines may be able to deliver.

    The assembly is done in one country like Malaysia or Indonesia or USA. But they still disclose in the box of the products that although assembled in USA, components are manufatured in another country.

    These days, all those which are made in China are labelled so, even if it is for USA like Mattel. So they can identify where it is produced. When safety becomes an issue, they can easily trace who the culprits are like
    the toys’ recall.

    The rice and chopsticks retailing are separate issues. One is that it requires land use and natural resources depletion.

    Chopsticks come from bamboo trees. Some countries like Taiwan and Japan have limited space for growing plants for material sourcing.

    There is a need for vast tracts of land to produce rice.
    So it is different when a First World Country would like to keep trade secrets by cannibalizing the production of its products components and distribute that among countries.

  24. 3rdson, hindi ko na lang sana papansinin ang iyong pagpula sa mga may opinyon sa ibat-ibang paksa dito pero sa palagay ko ay may pagka-ingit na nilalaman ang iyong komentaryo. ano ba naman ang masama kung magsiwalat ng opinyon ang sinuman na may pagkaka intindi, sang-ayon ka man o hindi? di ba kaya tayo may tinatawag na “liberal education” upang matuto tayong gumamit ng tamang pag-iisip at pagsusuri ng ibat-ibang bagay? kung meron kang taliwas na kuro-kuro, bakit di ka makipagpalitan ng katwiran sa halip na mag-insulto?

    tutuo, maroon tayong mga espesyalista sa larangan ng medicine, economics, engineering, law at iba pang disiplina ngunit hindi natin maipagkakaila na ang mga taong ito ay may sapat na inteligensya na makaunawa ng iba pang larangan ng buhay. kung limitado ang iyong pang-unawa, sori ka na lang pare.

  25. ‘On a side note, the prevalence of diabetes in rice-eating regions are making researchers suspicious of rice as causing the disease.’

    Good news for rice eating Filipinos. Darak is good for you!

    “Supplementing a diet with stabilised rice bran could help reduce blood sugar levels in people suffering from type I and type II diabetes, according to recent research from the US.”

  26. manong bencard, tama ka. inggit na inggit ako sa inyo. ang tatalino nyo kasi, at very entertaining. at ang inyong mga kuro kuro ay ang matatawag kong cyber-equivalent ng mga kwentong barbero.

    at oo nga. nalulungkot nga ako na limitado ang aking pag-unawa. tanggap ko yun. kaya nga di ako sumasabat dito pag hindi ako kinakausap. at least, di ba, di ako nagpapanggap na may alam.

    at siyanga pala. bakit affected ka? siguro, in your heart of hearts, alam mo na nahagip kita. otherwise, yung pini-preach nyo ni sir karl sa akin na wag kong pakialaman yung opinyon ng iba (maliban na lamang kung may taliwas ako na opinyon) siguro maiaaply mo rin sa akin. kung di ka naniniwala sa mga sinasabi ko, e di wag mo ko pansinin.

    at sir karl, pasensya na kung sa tingin mo e nasagasaan din kita.

  27. bencard, maybe it’s easier to just ask the farmers to plant hashish instead of rice. It’s definitely a ‘high’ value crop. 😉

  28. Bencard,

    Im persistent on the storage angle of the rice issue because I thinking that this will be the key to stabilize the rice supply. I was thinking that, rice farmers can produce tons and tons of rice but if the government doesn’t know how to store them . Eh di wala rin.

    I thought that to stabilize the rice supply, there must be something like a “buffer”. That will cover for supply crisis caused by storms or other calamities. And to have that “buffer”, storage technology is very important.

    But then there’s Ca T comment on the rice cartel, NPA, export s and repacking. I believe this factors contibutes a lot to the problem. I have been looking looking for rice that is made Philippines everytime I go to Cosco. Now with CaT’s comment there I must have been buying rice that has been produced in the Philippines but was repacked in Thailand or China.

    But then there is Ca T comment about the rice cartel and repacking that some how filled i

  29. 3rdson, aba’y huwag kang ma-inggit. wala kang mapapala diyan. mag aral at magsikap ka at hayaan mong mahubog ang iyong murang kaisipan. tapos, sumali ka dito at magbigay ng makabuluhang kuro-kuro. at i’yong blog mo na pang-insulto, sino naman ang masochista na maga-aksaya ng oras duon?

  30. “The beauty in carnage can only be appreciated, if seen through an artistic eye. There is no glamour in the slaughter of the innocents; but there is honor and verve in obliterating oppressive blocks to evolution.” – Fusion

  31. Karl,

    I agree with Ca T, repacking of rice and microchips is entirely different. I saying this as a former Senior Package Quality and Reliability of Intel Philippines before coming here.

    The term “repacking” is never used in the semiconductor industry. The term is simply “package” which is exactly my expertise in Intel. And it refers to the encapsulaion ( by a polymer material or substrates) of the microchips after it is assembled to form a complete circuit.

    A microchip come comes in different package. Six years ago ther Small Outline Package (SOP), Thin Small Outline Package (TSOP) and other vararition of SOP. But before i left Intel U used to handle the micro Ball Grid Array ( uBGA) package for cellphone micro chip. Type of package is highly dependent on where the microchip will be used. Pentium and Core dous has entirely diffrent package from the flash memory devices or microchip used on cellphones.

    So Texas Instruments and Intel in the Philippines are actually assembly plants of the microchips they produced in the US. Intel has other assmebly plants in Shanghai China and in Penang Malaysia. And the products that came out from these diffrent assembly plants should be excatly the same in quality and reliability. This is done through a Copy Exactly Program. And Package quality and reliability sits in a Change Control Board to make sure that any change in one assembly plant is implemented on all assmebly plants. Hence the assembly environment and conditions in all asembly plant is exactly the same producing a exactly the same product.

    That means you can never tell which one came from the Cavite or Shanghai or Penang. So there is no way that China can print their name on the package of microchip. The only way to trace the the assembly plants is thropugh tracebility number. Which solely used in case a customer ccomplained of a defective product. That way the Package quality and reliability engineer of the affacted asembly plant can do failure and root cause analysis.

  32. So all the only word that appears on every package of a microchip is “INTEL” the other marcking is traceability number.

  33. Karl,

    I agree with Ca T, repacking of rice and microchips is entirely different. I saying this as a former Senior Package Quality and Reliability of Intel Philippines before coming here.

    The term “repacking” is never used in the semiconductor industry. The term is simply “package” which is exactly my expertise in Intel. And it refers to the encapsulaion ( by a polymer material or substrates) of the microchips after it is assembled to form a complete circuit.

    A microchip come comes in different package. Six years ago ther Small Outline Package (SOP), Thin Small Outline Package (TSOP) and other vararition of SOP. But before i left Intel U used to handle the micro Ball Grid Array ( uBGA) package for cellphone micro chip. Type of package is highly dependent on where the microchip will be used. Pentium and Core dous has entirely diffrent package from the flash memory devices or microchip used on cellphones.

    So Texas Instruments and Intel in the Philippines are actually assembly plants of the microchips they produced in the US. Intel has other assmebly plants in Shanghai China and in Penang Malaysia. And the products that came out from these diffrent assembly plants should be excatly the same in quality and reliability. This is done through a Copy Exactly Program. And Package quality and reliability sits in a Change Control Board to make sure that any change in one assembly plant is implemented on all assmebly plants. Hence the assembly environment and conditions in all asembly plant is exactly the same producing a exactly the same product.

    That means you can never tell which one came from the Cavite or Shanghai or Penang. So there is no way that China can print their name on the package of microchip. The only way to trace the the assembly plants is thropugh tracebility number. Which solely used in case a customer ccomplained of a defective product. That way the Package quality and reliability engineer of the affacted asembly plant can do failure and root cause analysis.

  34. Cat, the stat you gave was for 2001. Hindi na accurate iyan.

    But the other thing that has not been answered yet is where does the “mabantot” rice sold by NFA comes from? Are they really still selling that? (I had my own experience with that a long time ago). Where does the “good rice” NFA buys go? Is it really as what the Cat has said, it being exported?

    That’s unlikely because if you look at this link from the inquirer, we are actually buying…a lot!

    http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=87392

  35. ***********************************************
    Ms. Cat Cath,

    Thank you so much, for the explanation.

    I know very well,that I can get a clearer answer from you.

    (I appreciate your corrections and corrections from others as well,kung walang papansin,mas magmumukha naman akong tanga na mabubuhay sa maling akala.)
    ********************************************

    CVJ,
    May I add, that some intended beneficiaries of land reform sold the land that was given to them,back to the hacienderos,because,they can’t maintain or don’t want to own it or from some other reason.

    scratch my question about the elites,let us just put it this way I was just thinking aloud.
    *****************************************
    Rego: re: storage
    Individually using silos is out of the question for the poor farmer,and if they form a group just to build a common silo,then magkakagaulo at magkakagulangan yan panigurado. Unless there is a cheaper means of storage that will withstand the elements,maybe its time for the pinoy inventor to invent one.

    If the target of our inventors can be for the poor,then they can stand alone. The one invented the prefab wires for construction,can be an example. ang problem nung una big construction nya prinesent ang invention nya, ang problema naman,lima lang ang tao niya at kailangan yata ng robot para ma makaproduce ng madami,pero tatargetin na lang daw nya ang small time construction companies and make do with what he has.

  36. food staples such as rice and wheat will increasingly become expensive as agri lands convert to corn to supply insatiable appetite for energy vis a vis ethanol.

  37. Wala yun 3rdSon,

    Sinasabi ko lang na ako din nag google at wikipedia,at internet research. At isa pa,kung baga parang mga kapatid ko na sila dito ,sa tagal ng pinagsamahahan namin dito kahit sa name basis lang.Yung iba nga almost two years na like CVJ and Cat cath,Jon,Anna,DJB etc.

    Mag enjoy ka na lang sa “kwwentong barbero” at “usapang lasing” at kwentong “tapos basa dyaryo” at “kinig am radio” namin.

  38. doesn’t the kwentong barbero or kutsero or basurero measure even more accurately the pulse of the crowd?

  39. INE,

    OO nga, bakit kailangan itong pagtawanan at maliitin na kwentong kutsero lang yan.

    Pero yung literal na usapang lasing,di kasali sa pulso o boses ng masa yun.Pero pwede din, yung iba nga nagpapatayan pa kahit mag best friend.

  40. manong bencard,kala ko ba to each his own? hahaha. grabe, i think i hurt your widdle feelings. at ang mga kuro-kuro mo ba makabuluhan? naku. meron dito na tunay na makabuluhan ang mga sinusulat. ikaw, puro ka rhetorical questions. puro ka paninira sa pilipino. ok din lang naman yun. pero wag mo lang lokohin ang sarili mo na may sense ang pinagsasabi mo. pero, sige lang, ‘nong. tuloy mo lang ang kwentong barbero mo. aba’y sumulat ka pa ng isang libretta, at maglagay ka ng kopya sa bawat kwarto sa lahat ng hotel, baka may maniwala sa mga haka-haka mo. tapos, bigla kang magigising! panaginip lang pala.

    at ang kwentong barbero, i.n.e., sa tingin ko ay over-rated bilang pulso ng bayan. ang kwentong barbero, kung tutuusin ay ang pagsisikap ng mga taong hanapan o gawaan ng eksplanasyon ang mga bagay-bagay na di nila lubos na naiintindihan. para bagang mga bulag na nagde-describe ng elepante. wala namang masama sa kwentong barbero dahil, katulad rin nung mga bulag, ang bawat obserbasyon o opinyon ay may sariling validity bagaman hindi kumpleto dahil hindi nga hindi tine-take into consideration yung big picture. Hindi yung kwentong barbero per se ang pinagtatawanan ko. Ang pinagtatawanan ko ay yung mga taong masyadong sineseryoso ang mga sarili nila. sa sobrang bilib sa sariling boses, lahat kailangan komentuhan, kahit na wala naman talagang maikokontribute, para lang magtunog magaling. tulad ni bencard.

  41. Jon M.,

    Kausap ko taga-NFA, what we have now is from Vietnam. Sinubukan ko. P18/k NFA is better than P23/k commercial rice.

    Maraming anomalya sa NFA like authority to import cornered by cartel. NFA has sole discretion over rice importation. DA sa production.

  42. Ca T, you’re observation regarding the rice cartel (which i believe is what hvrds referred to as a ‘monopsony’) smuggling rice out (for export) is very relevant in the sense that it shows that businessmen get bigger returns selling overseas than to the domestic market. Why the need to smuggle out? Is this because Philippine rice is too ‘high quality’, meaning it is at the high-end of the rice varieties that the local market cannot afford to pay for such quality? Or is there something (e.g. government regulations) that is keeping the local price low or the costs high (e.g. cost of transport) hence there is no incentive to sell domestically?

    Taking your description together with hvrds’, the picture is that high quality Philippine rice is smuggled out (aka exported) while lower quality (‘broken’) rice is imported by the NFA (according to Leo also controlled by a cartel). Leo, how does the cartel make money on the importation?

    Anyway, if Ca T is right about the rice cartel smuggling rice out, and if Nic’s prediction that the prices of staples (including rice) will increase as they are crowded out by corn for ethanol production, then we should expect outward smuggling of rice to increase along with NFA imports. The cartels make money at both ends.

  43. Cvj,

    With Cartels,monopsony oligopoly, I can see clearly now why you keep mentioning the elite.

    In addition,naisip ko na maganda naman siguro ang buhay mo sa singapore at napapaginhawa mo naman ang buhay ng mag relatives mo sa Pinas,kaya naisip ko ano ba ang problema ni cvj,sa elite?

    Tapos naisip ko din na gawing halimbawa ang pamilya namin,kahit na di naman naghihirap,ay marami pa ding kaming kamag anak sa Quezon(father side) na naghihirap.Ang iba nga nag NPA dati eh.Baka ikaw lang ang nakikita ko at siguro me dahilan na di ko na kailangan pang malaman,kaya medyo nagtataka ako,sa pagpuna mo sa elite.

  44. how do u kill trolls?

    a. you stick a wand up their noses
    b. you levitate its club over its head and let it drop
    c. refuse to feed the friggin thing

    well, whatever the answer is, im sure everyone will get the hint… *wink*

  45. Jon,

    I omce borrowed the hard copy of the Top Ten of Everything by Russel Ash for 2007. This is updated every year. Philippines is between 5 and 8 among the top ten in 2006.
    http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/3419340/The-Top-10-of-Everything-2008/Product.html

    One more interesting stat is about the top ten countries with the highest remittances from migrant workers.

    Nah, not the Philippines.

    It’s China, India, Mexico and Spain which many people think do not have ofws around the globe.

    Sure, Philippines is among the top ten.

  46. Karl, your question deserves a blog entry. The short answer is that i believe elitism and the elite mindset is incompatible with modern society.

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