Making do with morsels

The right to food under

the Arroyo administration

By raffy rey hipolito

SONA Promises

I
n July 2001, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo laid down in
her first State of the Nation Address (SONA) four elements in
combating poverty. One of them is “a modernized agricultural
sector founded on social equity.” Her top priority, she declared,
would be “murang bigas at masaganang magsasaka” (affordable
rice and productive farmers). The new president promised a million
jobs in agriculture and fisheries and P20 billion yearly for the AFMA Making
do with
(Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act). Her administration, morsels
she said, intends to distribute under the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program 100,000 hectares of private agricultural lands
and 100,000 hectares of public agricultural lands.

During her 2nd SONA, the President introduced the ‘Strong Republic.’
“Ang malakas na Republika ay para sa mahihina, para sa mahirap,
para sa walang trabaho, para sa nagugutom…” (A Strong Republic
for the weak, the poor, those without employment, the hungry). The
Strong Republic was able to distribute 250,000 hectares of land
under CARP; sold rice at P14/kilo in 1,000 rolling stores; allocated
P24 billion for agriculture and created emergency employment for
30,000 out-of-school youth.

In 2003, President Arroyo was boasting that she focused on her

priorities (jobs, food on every table, housing, education and peace)
and this has resulted in stable prices of sardines at P8.50; cooking
oil, P11; white sugar, P28/kilo; pork, P115/kilo and chicken, P90/ 21
 kilo. More than 500,000 hectares of land were distributed under
the agrarian reform program and 360,000 hectares of ancestral
lands strengthened, the President reported. Her nautical highways
had substantially reduced the cost of transporting goods from
Mindanao to Manila.

After declaring victory in a very controversial election in 2004, the

Chief Executive proclaimed “ang aking adyenda para sa maralita
ay hanapbuhay, reporma sa lupa, tubig, gamot at kuryente.” (My
anti-poverty agenda include employment, agrarian reform, water,
medicines and electricity.) For the 4th time, she called on Congress
to enact a bill on farmland collateral.

In 2005, after the “Hello Garci” scandal and her “I’m Sorry” speech,
President Arroyo delivered her shortest SONA. She called for
charter change so that a federal form of government may be
established to replace the current political system that “has become
a hindrance to our national progress.”

The concept of the Six Super Regions was introduced in the 2006
Making SONA. The North Luzon Quadrangle and Mindanao were to be
do with
morsels transformed into agribusiness hubs that would supply “plentiful and
affordable” food. She likewise declared her administration’s plan to
make the country’s labor cost globally competitive. The President
said P200 million a month would be allotted for small irrigation
projects and P200 million/month for farm-to-market roads.

“We must reform agrarian reform so it can transform beneficiaries

into agri-businessmen and agri-businesswomen,” she declared in
2007. Mariculture parks or “palaisdaan sa dagat” would also be
prioritized. The President ordered the Departments of Agriculture,
Agrarian Reform and Environment to allocate 30% of the program
budgets to Mindanao.

In 2008, PGMA openly stated that her priorities are: CARP with
Reforms, food self-sufficiency, social safety nets from the Value-
Added Tax (school feeding, cash transfer, etc.), the enactment of
a Consumer Bill of Rights and Farmland as Collateral Bill, and clean
22 water for the people.
The Reality

This year, President Gloria Arroyo will deliver her 9th (and hopefully
her last) SONA. Since her first SONA in 2001, what has happened
to the Filipinos’ human right to food, a right guaranteed in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights?
Are there less hungry citizens today? Do tenants, farm workers,
indigenous people and fisherfolks have greater access to productive
resources such as land and municipal waters to adequately feed
themselves? Is the Filipinos’ right to safe, affordable and nutritious
food being fulfilled by government programs?

Hunger and malnutrition

One of the fundamental rights of human beings is to be free from

hunger as stipulated in Article 11 of the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). As a signatory to
this international treaty, the Philippine State has the obligation to
implement programs to eliminate hunger.

Since President Arroyo assumed power, surveys and studies done Making
do with
by government and private institutions show an increasing number morsels
of hungry Filipinos. The National Statistical Coordination Board
(NSCB) reported in 2006 that the number of food-poor individuals
(those living below the subsistence level) in 2000 was 12.2 million.
The figure dropped to 10.8 million in 2003, but increased to 12.22
million in 2006. Bear in mind that in 2006 the price of rice had
not yet jumped to P42/kilo, as what happened in March 2008.
Definitely, the number of food-poor individuals will pass the 12
million level when the NSCB issues its next poverty and subsistence
incidence report.1

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) conducted a Survey of

Hunger Incidence in the Philippines (SHIP) in August 2006. The
survey covered more than 13,000 households in 80 provinces. It
showed that 18.6% were suffering from hunger. 2

Surveys conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS), a private

social research institution, reveal that since June 2004, the hunger 23
 incidence under the Arroyo administration has been in double digits.
The highest was in December 2008 when it reached 23.7% or
about 4.3 million households. 3 This tapered down to 15.5% or
2.9 million families in the 1st quarter of 2009. 4

Government data showed that in 2005 there were 3.7 million

underweight (24.6% of total) and 3.9 million under height (26.3%
of total) children in the 0-5 years old bracket. The regions with
the biggest number of underweight pre-school children were the
Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), 38%; MIMAROPA
(Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), 35.8%; Zamboanga
Peninsula, 33.9% and Eastern Visayas, 32%.5 While government
data reveal that the percentage of underweight pre-school children
has declined from 30.6% in 2001 to 24.6% in 2005, the average
yearly reduction has only been 1.2%. It will take at least 20 years to
wipe out the 24.6% malnutrition rate (assuming it will not increase,
which is unlikely). Among pregnant women, the nutritionally at
risk has increased from 26.6% in 2003 to 28.4% in 2005. These
undernourished pregnant women will most likely deliver babies
who are vulnerable to under-nutrition and delayed psychological
Making development. The percentage of underweight lactating mothers
do with
morsels also jumped from 11.7% to 13.9% between 2003 to 2005. 6

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that between

2003-2005, the malnutrition rate of the country was 16%, compared
to 21% between 1990-92 and 18% between 1995-97. However,
in terms of absolute number, the 13 million malnourished children
in 2003-2005 is the same as the number in 1990-92. 7

Limited access to productive resources and

employment

Providing people with access to productive resources (such as

land, municipal waters, livestock, seeds) and employment are the
most effective ways to ensure that persons can feed themselves
and their families with dignity. In General Comment #12 (The
Right to Adequate Food, 1999), the UN Committee on ESC Rights
explained that one of the obligations of a State is the obligation
24 to fulfill, which “means that the State must pro-actively engage in
activities intended to strengthen people’s access to and utilization
of resources and means of livelihood.”

FAO urged States to “respect and protect the rights of individuals

to resources such as land, water, forests, fisheries and livestock
without any discrimination … Where necessary and appropriate,
States should carry out land reforms and other policy reforms
consistent with their human rights obligations.”8

In her 2008 SONA, the President claimed that 854,000 hectares

of private farmlands and 797,000 hectares of public lands were
distributed under CARP in the last 7 years. It must be pointed out,
however, that most of the private lands that have been covered
under CARP were through the Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS) and
Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) schemes, and not through Compulsory
Acquisition (CA). According to the accomplishment report of the
Department of Agrarian Reform as of June 2008, only 279,651
hectares (7%) of private agricultural lands were distributed through
the CA scheme; compare this to lands under VOS, 589,363 hectares
(15%) and VLT, 668,643 hectares (17%). Private lands distributed
under the VLT scheme should be reviewed as it has been often used Making
do with
by landowners to evade CARP. Under the VLT, landowners usually morsels
choose as beneficiaries their relatives or dummies who pretend
that the land has been sold to them by the landowner. In reality,
the landlord retains ownership of the land.

The big challenge today is the distribution of the remaining

1,173,786 hectares of private agricultural lands, mostly sugar
lands and coconut lands owned by big landowners and influential
government officials. The following is a breakdown of the private
lands that must be targeted for distribution: 761,524 hectares
of private lands owned by 75,297 owners in the 5-24 hectares
category; 127,963 hectares owned by 3,841 owners in the 24-50
hectares category and 284,219 hectares owned by 2,403 owners
in the above-50 hectares category. 9

Will President Arroyo have the courage to confront the more than
81,000 landowners and cover their lands under CARP considering
that these include the First Gentleman’s family, her political allies 25
 in the House of Representatives and local government units and
big businessmen (like Danding Cojuangco, the Floirendos, the
Alcantaras)? While she has declared that CARP must be reformed
and extended, the president does not seem to be putting too
much pressure on her allies in the House of Representatives and
Senate to enact a law. Instead, the Congressmen and Senators
passed two joint resolutions extending CARP when it expired last
June 2008. In their last resolutions, they excluded Compulsory
Acquisition as a means of acquiring land between January 2009
– June 2009. The President is probably more concerned in having
a Constituent Assembly that would establish a parliamentary form
of government where she can be the future Prime Minister. House
Speaker Prospero Nograles, Congressmen Ignacio Arroyo (the
president’s brother-in-law), Luis Villafuerte and Pablo Garcia have
been introducing amendments to exempt sugar lands and coconut
lands from the new agrarian law, promote corporate farming and
allow foreigners to own land.

A sector that has been neglected by the government and not even
mentioned in past SONAs is the small fisherfolks. Their right to have
Making access to the 15-kilometer municipal water as provided in Republic
do with
morsels Act 8550 has not been adequately protected by the government.
Commercial fishing vessels continue to enter municipal waters,
depriving municipal fisherfolks of fish catch. A small fisherfolk from
Navotas said they cannot compete with commercial boats that fish
in the municipal waters of Navotas who use nets (popularly called
‘hulbot-hulbot’ or ‘zipper’) that enable them to catch fish in large
quantities. This fishing method is destructive because even young
fish are caught in the nets. 10

In Batangas, the Provincial Fisheries Officer, Ms. Rosario del Mundo,

claimed that commercial fishers who go to municipal waters can
further deplete the resources, especially since commercial fishing
is destructive in nature.11 The Bohol Environmental Management
Office (BEMO), on the other hand, urged local governments in Bohol
to actively drive away commercial boats from Mindanao and other
Visayas provinces who enter their municipal waters. 12

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 Making
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TRACY PABICO

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 morsels
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TRACY PABICO Photos by Task Force Detainees of the Philippines TRACY PABICO
 Making
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TRACY PABICO

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Making
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Photos by TRACY PABICO

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PEPE FRIAS Photos by TRACY PABICO

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do with
morsels
Making
 Access to employment, especially for the rural poor, is another
effective means of realizing the right to food as it gives the people
the income to procure food. FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines encourages
States to “adopt policies that create conditions that encourage stable
employment, especially in rural areas, including off-farm jobs.”13
However, the limited number of industries, the influx of imported
products, the closure of many manufacturing establishments,
the inadequate government support for local manufacturers,
poor infrastructure and corruption have all contributed to a high
unemployment and underemployment rate. Without a regular job,
many informal settlers, farm workers, fisherfolks and indigenous
people cannot buy enough nutritious food. Between 2001-2008,
the percentage of people employed by the industry sector declined
from 15.6% in 2001 to 14.7% in 2008. The agricultural sector’s
share of employment has declined very slightly from 37.4% in 2001
to 35.7% in 2008. What has grown is the services sector which
employs 49.6% of the labor force in 2008 compared to only 47%
in 2001.14

Improper, wasteful use of and inadequate

Making agriculture budget
do with
morsels
“To the maximum of its available resources” is one of the principles
laid down in Article 2 of ICESCR that should guide States in their
goal of achieving progressively the citizens’ economic, social and
cultural rights, including the right to food. According to President
Arroyo, her administration has been allotting P24 billion yearly
for the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Program to build
irrigation systems and farm-to-market roads, increase rice, corn and
vegetable production and make food plentiful and affordable.

A special study made by the Commission on Audit, however, shows

that from 2001-2005, the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization
Program received P81.73 billion only or P16.34 billion a year.
Compare this to the budget for the Defense Department (P244.85
billion) and the Department of Interior and Local Government
(P212.07 billion).15 The inability of the Philippines to feed its growing
population can be attributed mainly to the neglect of the agricultural
32 sector, especially the small agricultural producers planting basic
food crops. Irrigation, for instance, would substantially help in
boosting rice production. But due to inadequate funds, the irrigated
land of the country is only 1.5 million hectares as of June 2008 or
only 45.8% of the 3.13 million hectares of irrigable area.16

Not only is the fund for agriculture insufficient. It is also improperly

used and wasted. Again, a study of the Commission on Audit
illustrates this. In 2005-2006, P1.13 billion was given to non-
government organizations (such as Masaganang Ani Para sa
Magsasaka, Philippine Social Development Foundation, Ikaw at
Ako Foundation) but the amount remained un-liquidated as of
December 2006; 17 farm-to-market roads amounting to P13.5
million in Region 2 were built within the town/barangay proper;
out of the P1.13 billion allocation for the GMA Rice Program for
agricultural supplies (like seeds), only P532 million was used for
that purpose while P466 million paid for incidental expenses such
as office equipment, repairs, travelling; irrigation projects worth
P1.91 billion were built by NIA but were not being operated or were
only partially operated.17

Food safety nets Making

do with
morsels
Food for Work, Food for School, Tindahan Natin Outlets and the
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (cash transfer program) are
just some of the food safety net programs the Arroyo government
has implemented. In her 2008 SONA, the President said that more
than 6 million children have benefitted from the Food for School
program. The 9,934 Tindahan Natin Outlets have served 2.5M
families between 2006-2008 while 270,000 families in Metro
Manila have been given Family Access Cards to enable them to
buy subsidized rice (sold at P18.25/kilo) from the National Food
Authority (NFA).18 The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (or
4Ps) aims to provide P500/month per family for nutrition and health
expenses and P300/month per child (maximum of 3 children per
family) within 5 years, targetting some 321,000 families.19

Food and other social safety net projects can be viewed and used
as a populist measure to prop up the government’s sagging image
and to buy the political loyalty of the basic masses (like what the 33
 Arroyo administration is doing) or it can be seriously implemented
as part of the government’s obligation to fulfill. As early as 1999,
the UN Committee on ESC Rights pointed out that “whenever an
individual or group is unable, for reasons beyond their control, to
enjoy the right to adequate food by the means at their disposal,
States have the obligation to fulfill (provide) that right directly. This
obligation also applies for persons who are victims of natural or
other disasters.”20 After 5 years, FAO urged States to consider
“to the extent that resources permit, establishing and maintaining
social safety and food safety nets to protect those who are unable
to provide for themselves.”21

How were the above food safety net projects implemented by the
Arroyo government? The Food for Work program was implemented
for one month only instead of 6 months in selected provinces. The
Food for School was implemented initially in selected areas and,
later on, nationwide. However, as we pointed out in the Parallel
Report on the Right to Food which we submitted in 2008 to the
UN Committee on ESC Rights, there are more beneficiaries in the
National Capital Region (NCR) than other poorer regions such as
Making the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, CARAGA, Zamboanga
do with
morsels Peninsula.

Regarding the Tindahan Natin Outlets which are supposed to sell the
P18.25/kilo rice and other basic commodities, the usual complaint
of consumers is the availability of the NFA rice for only a short
period of time. Consumers in Navotas City that this writer talked
with suspect that owners of Tindahan Natin stores divert a bigger
portion of their NFA rice and sell it at a higher price to other rice
traders. The NFA and local governments should exert more efforts
in ensuring that the low-priced rice are sold to poor families.

One of the positive things about the implementation of the 4Ps is

that the Department of Social Welfare and Development has been
transparent regarding the beneficiaries by posting their names
and residences in its website. Non-government organizations can
therefore easily verify if the beneficiaries are real. Another positive
thing we saw was in the selection of beneficiaries. The mayors
34 of the towns/cities were not the ones who chose the beneficiaries
whose usual criteria in selecting beneficiaries is political loyalty.
The cash transfer program, however, must not be used as a reason
for the Arroyo government or by succeeding administrations not
to implement asset reforms (agrarian, ancestral, urban land and
fisheries reforms), provide basic social services and embark on
an industrialization program which are the long-term solutions to
eliminate social-economic inequalities, joblessness, hunger and
poverty.

References

National Statistical Coordination Board. “Annual Per Capita Food Threshold,

1.

Subsistence Incidence & Magnitude of Subsistence Poor Population: 2000,

2003, 2006”, 2006

Abad Santos, et al. “The Right to Food Assessment”, Asia-Pacific Policy

2.

Center, August 20, 2008

Social Weather Station. “4th Quarter 2008 Social Weather Survey; Hunger
3.

at new record high 23.7% of families; Moderate hunger at 18.5%, Severe

Hunger at 5.2%.”

Social Weather Station. “1st Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey; Hunger
4.

eases to 15.5% of families; Moderate Hunger at 11.1%, Severe Hunger at

Making
4.4%.” , March 23, 2009 do with
morsels
Food & Nutrition Research Institute. “Nutritional Status of Filipino Children
5.

& Selected Population Groups: 2005 Update”

Food & Nutrition Research Institute. “Nutritional Status of Filipino Children

6.

& Selected Population Groups: 2005 Update”

Food and Agriculture Organization. “Philippines, Monitoring Progress

7.

towards Hunger Reduction targets of the WFS and MDG”

Food and Agriculture Organization. “The Voluntary Guidelines to Support

8.

the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food”, paragraph 8.1,

2005

Department of Agrarian Reform. “Summary of Land Acquisition & Distribution

9.

Balance (Private Agricultural Land) Size, Number of Lot Owners, Percent

of Total”, March 2008

10.
Interview with Buboy Rondon last May 6, 2009 at barangay Bangkulasi,
Navotas City.

11.
Luistro, M. “War on illegal fishing, a reality check”, Philippine Daily Inquirer,
June 2, 2008 35
 “Mayors urged to catch big-time illegal fishers”, The Bohol Chronicle, August
12.

10, 2008

Food and Agriculture Organization. “The Voluntary Guidelines to Support

13.

the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food”, paragraph

2.6, 2005

National Statistics Office. “Employed Persons by Major Industry Group”

14.

2001-2008

Commission on Audit. “Effectiveness of the Budget Allocation System of

15.

the Government”, COA Report No. 2005-05

Senate Economic Planning Office. “Financing Agricultural Modernizations:

16.

Risks & Opportunities”

Commission on Audit. “Government’s Rice Program”, Sectoral Performance

17.

Audit Report #2007-04

Secretary Esperanza Cabral. “Social Protection Programs of the

18.

Government”, DSWD, August 20, 2008

Secretary Esperanza Cabral. “Social Protection Programs of the

19.

Government”, DSWD, August 20, 2008

Making UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. “General Comment

20.
do with #12 The Right to Adequate Food”, paragraph 15, 1999
morsels

Food and Agriculture Organization. “The Voluntary Guidelines to Support

21.

the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food”, paragraph

14.3, 2005
..............................................................................................

Raffy Rey Hipolito is the Program/Advocacy Officer of Foodfirst

Information Action Network (FIAN Philippines).

36