The continuing rice crisis — reportedly the worst in the last three decades — is fast becoming the most urgent issue at hand.  The crisis, together with non-stop increases in the prices of petroleum products has placed the Filipino people in much trouble. Piecemeal subsidies doled out by the Arroyo government to poor families does not address the current crisis.  We believe that an end to the rice crisis requires a sincere solution that will truly benefit the Filipino people. While many so-called experts have blamed rising fuel and fertilizer prices, climate change, and the lack of mechanization and irrigation as the causes of the present crisis, patriotic scientists affiliated with AGHAM (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People) and RESIST Agrochem TNCs (Resistance and Solidarity against Agrochemical TNCs) have different views.  We are most concerned over the rice situation in the country in the context of food security, as rice is the staple food of 87 million Filipinos. Poor Filipinos actually rely on rice for nourishment. This crisis is painful for them. This crisis is like a catastrophe that has wrought great havoc to the Filipino people. The Philippines used to be a net exporter of rice in the 1980's. Unfortunately, due to globalization and the implementation of the World Trade Organization/Agreement on Agriculture (WTO/AoA) in 1995 it has become the number one rice importer in the world. This is the tragedy of today's crisis. As such, rice lands have been converted to land for cut-flowers, bio-fuel, shrimp cultivation, cassava, animal feed, industrial use, amusement parks, real estate development and special economic zones. These so-called development projects continue to displace farmers from the land they till. Through the intellectual property rights enforced by TRIPs and bilateral trade agreements (TRIPS-plus), rice seed varieties are taken away from the hands of farmers, particularly women, and indigenous communities, to those of agrochemical TNCs and seed companies. This situation is aggravated by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) which effectively controls the seeds and agriculture. Through the Green Revolution, corporate agriculture has poisoned people and rice fields with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, degraded rice lands, destroyed rice ecosystems, ecological rice practices and rice culture; and severely undermined the food security of the country. Big agrochemical TNCs have paved the way for hybrid rice and now, genetically-engineered (GE) rice such as Golden Rice, Bt Rice, and Liberty Link Rice, and has brought about not only the loss of local and traditional rice varieties but their contamination as well. GE will only worsen the problem of world hunger. We urge all decision-makers of agriculture and food policies to listen to the united voices of the Filipino scientists and farmers to resolve the rice crisis:Undertake genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization. Support the passage of HB 3059 (Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill) and the HB 3958 (Rice Industry Development Act).

1. Support national initiatives to preserve, protect and uphold rice culture and biodiversity-based ecological rice agriculture.  The control of seeds and agriculture rightfully belongs to the farmers.
2. Preserve and protect the rights and livelihoods of rice farmers and rice farming communities, especially indigenous peoples. Discontinue agreements, policies and laws that enable the liberalization of trade in rice and agriculture.
3. Initiate an all-out ban on genetically-engineered rice.  Protect our local and traditional rice varieties.
4. Stop the patenting of seeds and traditional knowledge. Protect and strengthen farmers’ local seed conservation systems.
5. Ensure the safety of farmers, rice and rice ecosystems. Total ban on the use of toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in rice fields.
6. Uphold the People’s Control on Agriculture! Implement farmer-centered agricultural research and systems. Close down IRRI