Press statement of Senator Loren Legarda

ON RICE

The government's economic stimulus package should provide a substantial portion to support production and marketing infrastructure as well as research and extension for rice as it appears that the Philippines is again importing more rice than ever before to feed our growing population. It is reported that Vietnam is expected to export 700,000 more tons of rice to the Philippines before the year's end.

The Philippines is spending billions of pesos annually to import rice, which is the basic staple of our people. If we attain self-sufficiency in rice production, this money would go to our farmers to improve their living standards, aside from saving dollars that could be used to purchase machineries and other equipment to modernize our economy.

Because of dwindling rice stocks in both importing and exporting countries, rice prices have increased to their highest levels in 20 years, from $300 per metric ton in 2001 to $500 to over $700 per ton in recent months. These are expected to increase further due to climate change. We must therefore reexamine our rice policy to strive for self-sufficiency to make us independent of foreign imports.