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The ancient prayer to St. Michael, which used to be recited after
the final blessing and before the dismissal at pre-Vatican II
Masses, calls on the archangel to “defend us in battle.” As if
responding to the prayer, San Miguel, the corporation, the
Philippine transnational food and beverage conglomerate, has joined
in a gigantic way the country’s war for food security.
In partnership with another transnational, the
Malaysia-based food-industry giant, Kuok Group, San Miguel has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government to carry
out the “Feeding the Future” project.
San Miguel’s President Ramon Ang said both
companies will spend at least $1 billion “to boost Philippine
agricultural production and help insulate our countrymen from the
continued volatility of the commodity markets . . . And we are ready
to help our government in any way possible—whether it is by
providing seed money to help farmers pay for shallow wells, basic
agricultural inputs, such as hybrid seeds and fertilizers, and
extending technical expertise.”
San Miguel’s Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Eduardo Conjuangco Jr. said, “There is no more important
issue today than food security. The defining challenge of the future
is to guarantee that people have access to food.” For the steep
surge of food prices are making more and more of the poor go hungry
and “food crop prices are expected to remain at extraordinary
levels through 2010 and remain high for at least a decade.”
Kuok Group’s Chairman Robert Kuok blamed
“the use of crops to produce alternative fuels, the global rise in
population and climate change” together for putting “tremendous
pressure on farm lands and . . . changing the face of farming.” He
also noted that “the skyrocketing prices of fossil fuels, which
affect not only farming but also the transportation of goods, as
well as the rise in prices of fertilizers, have also had a major
impact on food supply and food prices.”
A million hectares of idle land
Under the agreement, San Miguel and Kuok Group
will spend at least $1000 per hectare on one million hectares of
idle agricultural lands and plant these to food crops—rice, corn,
sugarcane, coconut, vegetables. They will support the farmers who
will till the farms and then buy all the produce. Some of the
produce will go to San Miguel’s beer, livestock, poultry and
hog-raising industries and the Kuok Group’s food processing
plants. The rest will be for the Philippine market.
The government’s Department of Environment and
Natural Resources, Armed Forces of the Philippines, National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples and National Power Corp. have
apparently identified three million hectares of idle government land
suitable for food production.
They will now evaluate and review these
findings. Then, providing technical assistance, the Department of
Agriculture will determine which crops are suitable for the
different types of land and provide extension services. DA will also
help San Miguel Corp. and Kuok Group set priorities as to what food
crops need to be planted in the effort to fight off the food crisis.
The government will continue to own the
farmlands. And no problem will arise like that raised by Sumilao,
Bukidnon, farmers claiming their rights under the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law. San Miguel had to spend millions to settle that
problem.
Since almost half a year go, when the
realization hit us Filipinos that we were facing a rice shortage
because the “era of cheap food prices was over,” the
administration has not done anything to begin making our country
self-sufficient in rice, corn and other basic food crops. It has
instead spent scores of billions on rice imports and subsidies for
the fortunate poor who managed to get access cards to buy cheap NFA
rice.
The San Miguel and Kuok Group’s “Feeding the
Future” project is the first major effort to win the battle
against food insecurity.
May other private sector corporations be
inspired by San Miguel’s example and move to contribute their
share in making the Philippines self-sufficient in food.
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