Rice is the staple food in Southeast Asia and in many parts of the world. But it’s not just a food that fulfills hunger. Rice has enriched the cultures of many Asian societies.

In Thailand, asking, ‘Have you eaten rice today?’ is a way of saying, ‘How are you?’ In Vietnam it’s proper to say, ‘please eat rice’ before every meal, even if the meal doesn’t include rice. In Brunei elders remind the children to finish their meal to the last grain of rice because if not, the rice will cry.

Asia has developed rice-flavored ice cream, rice wine, rice cake and rice paper. A small village in central Java Island in Indonesia organizes an annual festival to commemorate the ‘Rice Goddess.’ A colonial ruler of Indochina once remarked: ‘The Vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch it grow and the Lao listen to it grow.’

Indeed, rice is a precious commodity in Southeast Asia. Thailand is the world’s biggest rice exporter while Indonesia is the largest rice consumer. Other Southeast Asian nations like Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma are notable rice exporters too, while the Philippines is the world’s top rice importer.

So it’s not at all surprising that many people in this part of the world are worried over reports that recent floods in many Asian countries have affected the rice output in the region. The reduced rice supplies plus the rising demand for the staple in China and India could affect the price of rice. And the rice problem is in fact being made worse by rice smuggling—a trade in which unscrupulous rice traders collude with politicians and agricultural officials in hoarding rice supplies. This further creates an artificial crisis, which jacks up the price of rice.

Rice is a politically sensitive commodity since price fluctuations in the market could easily undermine the stability of governments in the region. Many people here are ready to blame the recent unrest in the Middle East for the skyrocketing oil prices but rice price increases are unacceptable in societies where planting of rice is a thousand-year-old tradition.

Politicians who can’t adequately explain why consumers must pay more for a cup of rice risk losing public support and governments that fail to address the rice needs of their constituents will definitely incite public indignation. It’s not just empty stomachs that arouse the anger of many people in the region; they become rebellious too if they cannot eat their rice.

Rice actually has the potential to spark an uprising. The August 1945 revolution in Vietnam was led by hungry peasants and urban dwellers, who stormed public halls demanding food, rice and independence. The slogan, ‘Break open the rice stores to avert famine’ mobilized the masses which ended the colonial occupation and paved the way for the establishment of an independent democratic Vietnamese nation.

The threat of a ‘rice revolution’ caused by rice shortages is always present in agricultural societies. A few days ago, a Philippine newspaper leaked a government security report, which warned against the escalation of violent social protests and even riots if the government fails to prevent a rice supply crisis this year. So far the government has denied any such issues.

This scenario could also become familiar to other Southeast Asia nations. It’s why it should embolden policymakers to review their agricultural laws, especially programs on how to boost the productivity of rice farmers. In the Philippine case, something is wrong with an economic policy that prioritizes the planting of cash crops to be exported to other countries over the planting of food crops needed by the people who are suffering from hunger.

The government can also implement emergency measures like arresting rice hoarders and smugglers. Price controls and handing out of subsidies must also be included as options even though economists are sure to reject them.

Persuading the people to reduce their rice intake and change their diet is not enough. Nothing short of a comprehensive overhaul of rice and agricultural policies is needed if governments really want to avert civilian and peasant unrest in the future.

2009 Top employment generators

• Real estate, Renting (11.8%)
• Electricity, Gas and Water (9.4%)
• Private households with employed persons
• Health and social work (7.6%)
• Education (6.2%)
• Hotels and Restaurants (6%)

The service sector has generated the most number of jobs in 2009. It is expected that this sector will expand further as the industrial and agricultural sectors continue to face bleak prospects. This can be blamed on the neoliberal economic policies of the government which have contributed to the decline of the domestic manufacturing and agricultural sectors of the country.

2008-09 Most number of graduates

• Business Administration – 114,000
• Education, Teacher – 96,000
• Medical and allied professionals – 87,000
• Engineering – 63,000
• IT – 49,000

Nursing is down; enrolment in HRM and IT is increasing. Business Administration and Teacher Education are traditionally the most popular courses in college. Recently, the Commission on Higher Education announced a moratorium on the creation of new business and teacher courses.

2009 TESDA assessed graduates

• Health, Social, Community Development – 407,237
• Maritime Sector – 293,666
• Hotel, restaurant – 281,389

According to TESDA, the Maritime Sector has the highest ratio of students who immediately received employment certifications. The IT sector performed poorly in this indicator.

Top 12 Key Employment Generators

• Agribusiness
• Cyberservices
• Health and Wellness
• Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism
• Mining
• Construction
• Banking and Finance
• Manufacturing
• Ownership Dwellings and Real Estate
• Transport and Logistics
• Wholesale and Retail Trade
• Overseas Employment

This is based on the economic projections of DOLE and the priority economic activities of the government. Note that mining, cyberservices, and overseas employment are listed here since they are priorities of the past administration. Construction is expected to experience a boom in the next few years if the government’s Public Private Partnership program would deliver on its promises.

Hard to fill occupations

• Aqua-culturist
• Feed processor/Food technician
• Animator
• Optician
• Spa/Massage Therapist
• Baker
• Cook

For those interested to enroll in a second course or those who want to shift to another career, the list above can be a guide. The listing is provided by DOLE and private employers.

Four emerging industries

• Creative industries (3D Modelers, 3D Artist, 3D Animators, Flash Animators, System Analyst and Designers)
• Diversified/Strategic Farming and Fishing
• Power and Utilities (Electrical Control Operator, Equipment Operator, Electrical Technician, Mechanical Technician, Mechanic, Power Production Plant Operator)
• Renewable Energy

The last two items could explain why San Miguel and other conglomerates are shifting to power generation.

NEDA economic activities projection

• High value, FDI-led agribusiness
• Infrastructure
• Long term demand for OFWs
• Tourism
• Medical Tourism
• Retirement estates (Subic, NCR, Tagaytay, Cebu, Dumaguete)
• BPO
• ICT investments
• Real estate
• Shipbuilding
• Mining
• Renewable energy
• Food production

The list reveals the bias of our economic policymakers. We continue to be dependent on foreign direct investments and the sending (exporting) of our people to other countries. The Philippines is also aiming to be a retirement hub aside from attracting investments in medical tourism.

Job prospects (regions)

• Hotels, restaurants, tourism – NCR, II, III, IV-B, V, VI, VII, IX, X, CARAGA
• Health, wellness – NCR, CAR, III, IV-B, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII
• Cyber services – NCR, II, III, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII
• Transport – I, II, VI, X
• Banking, Finance – X, CARAGA
• Mining – II, III, IV-B, VI, IX, XI, XII, CARAGA

The transport industry got a boost from the RORO system devised during the Arroyo years. Meanwhile, the new administration intends to implement a RORO-like cold chain system for agricultural supplies. Tourism it seems is a priority in most regions. I’m quite worried that mining will continue to be a priority of the government.

Emerging industries (regions)

• Agribusiness – VIII
• Creative Industries – NCR
• Cyber services – CAR, IV-A, V, VIII, XII, CARAGA
• Diversified farming – CARAGA
• Education – II
• Furniture – VII
• Health, medical tourism – CAR, V, CARAGA
• Mining – I, VI, X

Cyber services (BPO sector) are focused in regions where education centers exist. Is furniture business an emerging industry in Cebu because of the global success of Kenneth Cobonpue?

NCR Employment Trends 2003-08

• Real Estate, renting
• Hotels, Restaurant, Construction
• Public administration, defense,
• Financial intermediation
• Transport storage and communication
• Wholesale and retail trade

Public administration and financial intermediation are top job generators in Metro Manila because it is the political and financial capital of the country. Defense is also a big industry for job hunters. Ask for a pabaon from the generals. Real estate is growing especially with all the condominium projects everywhere.

NCR emerging business districts

• North Triangle
• Araneta Cyber Center
• Greenhills redevelopment
• EDSA Central Robinsons Gateway Center
• Rockwell Center
• Fort Bonifacio Global City
• McKinley Hill
• SM Central Business Park
• Metropolital Business Park
• Newport City
• ASEANA IT Business Park
• Asiaworld City
• Madrigal Business Park
• Filinvest Corporate City

The service sector enclaves! Political organizing should also be developed in these office areas. North Triangle tops the list – will this mean that the urban poor communities in the vicinity will be demolished soon?

OFWs Top Demandable Category 2009

• Domestic helpers – 109,982
• Production – 36,212
• Nurses – 28,470
• Caregivers – 9,431
• Plumbers – 15,359
• Cooks -14,900
• Wiremen – 15,955
• Welders – 10,592

Despite Arroyo’s assertion that OFWs should be called expats, the data shows that we are still a nation known for having the most skilled domestic helpers in the world.

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Labor groups were quick to dismiss this assertion by describing the labor situation today as an “industrial peace of the grave.” They denounced the military approach of the government in handling labor disputes. A labor leader further explained the predicament of organized workers:

“How can workers launch strikes when factories and neighboring communities are militarized? When after filing notices of strike, the (Labor) Secretary immediately issues an Assumption of Jurisdiction order, even before strikes are actually launched? (President Gloria) Arroyo provided a blanket justification for these moves by talking about ‘terrorists in factories,’ thereby declaring legitimate workers’ unions targets of state repression.”

To probe these allegations, top-level officials of the International Labor Organization are arriving in Manila this week. Another goal of the trip is to investigate the rising number of extrajudicial killings and abductions involving workers. The ILO visit is an opportunity for domestic labor groups to prove before an international body how the government is violating the human rights of Filipino workers.

Industrial peace is enforced in the country’s export processing zones by prohibiting the establishment of unions. Workers are also disallowed from conducting factory strikes. These policies are violations of the country’s labor laws, but they are implemented by the government to attract foreign investment. This makes factories inside the export processing zones the country’s prestigious and privileged sweatshops.

Industrial peace is equated with the establishment of factory zones that employ underpaid laborers who are willing to work long hours with little or no job security. Proposals to improve the working conditions in these modern sweatshops are denounced by government authorities and technocrats as anti-competitive measures.

Government and business leaders are more eager to help achieve the profit targets of foreign companies than to improve the wage benefits received by Filipino workers. Industrial peace is promoted to advance the interests of foreigners and big business.

The low number of strikes also reflects the decreasing number of organized workers in the country. The government is not aggressively promoting the formation of unions in workplaces. In fact, the Labor Department does not even include the number of unionized workers as an indicator of its performance in its annual accomplishment report submitted to Congress.

This may explain why the majority of workers are not union members. Many young workers are unaware of their right to form unions. Thus they are denied the right to demand better compensation and other work benefits.

The rise of the service sector is also a factor which has contributed to the weakening of the bargaining power of organized labor. A majority of companies in this industry are prohibiting their employees from establishing or joining labor associations. The most famous example is the Business Process Outsourcing sector, which employs almost half a million young Filipinos.

The phenomenal growth of the service sector was not achieved by the manufacturing industry, the traditional base of organized labor. In the past 25 years, the contribution of the manufacturing industry, including the agricultural sector, to the economy has been diminishing.

Stiff competition from foreign companies has forced many domestic establishments to reduce or cease their operations. Free trade was rabidly and blindly promoted without enacting adequate safeguards to protect the local economy.

As factories close down in major urban centers, organized labor is also losing its core membership. In the past months, many bankrupt companies were forced to lay off their regular workers. Most of them are union members. During an economic crisis, workers are the first to be sacrificed in order to prevent massive profit losses.

The government may be partly correct when it boasts that the country has achieved industrial peace. But this kind of peace was enforced by using the iron hand of the state to quell dissent among the ranks of workers. The concept of industrial peace is anti-labor and anti-poor. Big Government and Big Business have joined forces to undermine the just demands of organized labor.

But as long as labor exploitation exists in society, no government or capitalist enterprise can stop workers from mounting legitimate actions in workplaces and in the streets. If we continue to ignore the plight of workers, they will have no choice but to call for a revolution.

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SM is the undisputed leader in the local retail industry. But it seems SM has a more ambitious and nefarious plan: it wants to be the only retail store in the country. It kills competition by buying out local stores; it establishes branches beside public markets; it uses its political clout to benefit from mega public projects – Northrail will have an SM Clark station, a central MRT station will be built in front of SM City North Edsa. (It is incredible that railways along EDSA, the site of two People Power uprisings, have station links to supermalls but none to historical sites or public parks).

Save More stores are sprouting everywhere. They are established in our favorite local neighborhoods; in places where we didn’t expect would be invaded by SM’s corporate tentacles. But SM is now going hyperlocal. SM is targeting the savings of kuripot residents who are not fond of malling. SM wants you buy your lunch and dinner needs at the clean, affordable, and accessible Save More branches and not in your dingy, crowded, and smelly public markets. Through Save More, SM is offering you an opportunity to experience the allure of modern shopping without the inconvenience of hobnobbing with the sosyaleras in the malls.

But Save More stores do not empower customers. They are anti-poor (and anti-labor) business establishments. After SM is finished devouring local stores like Glo-ri (Champion stores) and Masagana, it could soon dictate the retail prices in the market. It is only a matter of time before the ubiquitous Save More stores can force the shut down of small supermarkets like Hi-Top, Parco, Anson’s, Liana’s, SSG, Kemp, GL, etc. The establishment of a modern chain of supermarkets has permanently affected the profitability of maintaining public markets. SM stores are killing the businesses of small vendors in public markets. SM stores forces and seduces you to ignore and forget the ever reliable public markets.

Without competition from village stores, SM can decide what things we need to buy for our daily lives. SM can modify our shopping habits by hypnotizing us to buy goods we don’t need. Through marketing magic, SM can make us feel satisfied if we consume their products. Through its dominance of the local retail trade industry, SM can alter our senses by presenting its products as constituting the national standard for what is true, the good, and the beautiful. Soon the SM standard will be used to measure if a product is reasonable priced and of high quality. This is homogenization of taste. We will appreciate only the things and products sold by SM.

SM’s supremacy weakens the power of local farmers, growers, suppliers, and manufacturers. SM can bargain for the lowest prices from its suppliers. SM can demand unfair product requirements from producers. It can sign deals and agreements with suppliers that do not reflect an equal business partnership. SM can afford to be arrogant because it no longer has competition. Suppliers which want better deals can no longer threaten SM that they will sell their products to other village stores because the latter have already closed shop.

As the number of village stores and public markets continue to decline, the livelihood of local farmers and manufacturers is affected. They will be forced to sell their products to SM at a lower price. Consumers are at a losing end too because they will be denied of the right to choose and buy products from diverse local sources.

SM stores are changing the relationship of customer and trader. At public markets, customers can be suki in the morning; they can make tawad-tawad; they can demand dagdag (“suki, dagdagan mo naman. Suki, paubos na yung benta mo, ibigay mo na lang sa akin”); they can complain and force a change in the store policy (“Masungit yang katulong mo. Masyadong mahal ang benta mo.”); they can make pisil-pisil the products to test the freshness; they can demand new products (“Suki, gusto ko bukas ng ganitong prutas at gulay.”).

At SM stores, customers are given (dis)advantage cards but they cannot make tawad-tawad; customers are greeted by smiling employees but their complaints will most likely not affect the store policy; customers can suggest new products but the management will not act on a single request.

Through Save More, SM wants to grab more. In the end, you will pay more. Today, going to the public market is a threatened cultural and economic activity. Soon, buying a product from a public market will be an act of protest against corporate predators like SM. We need Farmers’ Markets. Once in a while, go to the nearest tiangge.

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The global crisis is too painful to accept; a taboo. Its symbolic meaning should be filtered. A sense of normalcy should prevail. It’s our defensive mechanism. It’s part of the survival manual.

Then there is swine flu, the first pandemic of the 21st century. Through the swine flu scare, we are able to express our real emotions about the global economic crisis. The spread of the deadly virus has allowed us to vent our fears, frustration, anger about the capitalist virus which is also wreaking havoc in the world.

We may be unconsciously associating the swine flu virus with the global financial crisis.

Both the swine flu and economic crisis are rapidly and uncontrollably spreading in the world. They are both hurting and killing rich and poor individuals alike. The swine flu virus was created in a U.S. laboratory; the global economic crisis was jumpstarted by the Wall Street crash last year. The swine flu virus was produced by combining different lethal strain from animals; the economic bubble is blamed on the speculative financial instruments created by banking institutions. There is no available vaccine for swine flu; there is no solution yet to end the global recession. Thermal scanners were installed in airports and preventive measures were imposed to minimize the spread of the swine flu virus; trade protectionist measures and stimulus plans were implemented to revive and protect the interest of struggling economies. We bailout money-losing banks and companies which are too big to fail; we close down schools and buildings with swine flu cases. We lay-off workers; we quarantine individuals afflicted with swine flu virus.

Governments initially insist that their countries are swine flu-free; governments initially boast that their countries are not under recession. When swine flu cases are reported in their countries, governments downplay the extent of the threat; when economic indicators point to a looming recession, governments assure the public that the recession will not last long.

The global economic crisis is the worst economic crash since the Great Depression of the 1930s; the swine flu pandemic is the worst global health disaster in recent decades.

Decollectivization

As a safety measure against the spread of swine flu, the Philippine Roman Catholic Church has discouraged the holding of hands everytime the Lord’s Prayer is sang during mass. The joining of hands during mass is a basic show of solidarity in a community. It’s an affirmation of belongingness in a congregation united by faith. Because of the swine flu panic, this symbolic ritual is no longer required during mass.

Swine flu threatens the formation of radical politics based on solidarity, collectivity and mass actions. Swine flu strengthens the ideology which puts primacy on the empowered but anti-social individual.

Swine flu is affecting the behavior of people around the world. Everyone is suspected of carrying the dreaded swine flu virus. Sick persons are advised to impose a self-quarantine prescription. Touching of hands, embracing, and kissing in public are now discouraged. Talking in public places is made more difficult because almost everyone is now wearing facemasks. The swine flu scare reinforces inidividualistic attitudes in a society gripped by paranoia and cynicism.

Swine flu seems to be the appropriate global health disaster of the 21st century. In the past, community involvement is needed to cure individual and social health problems. Today the sick individual is required to isolate himself/herself from the community. Swine flu discourages social involvement of individuals. It complements the emerging dominant behavior among young people. Because of the rising popularity of mobile technologies, nobody is talking anymore. Individuals are too engrossed with their virtual selves and ako mismo world that they are no longer too concerned with what is happening around them. They are afraid to talk and meet strangers in the real world. They are hesitant to touch and feel the fleshy, spongy, rough and textured surface of the world. They prefer virtual interaction; not social interaction.

Could this be the reason why there is no massive unrest in poor societies? Individuals are too afraid to act, to socialize, to organize because the dominant ethic is to rely on individual initiative. Sick? Quarantine yourself. Unemployed? Find a job yourself. Feeling sick? Wear a facemask and avoid crowded places. Employed but threatened with retrenchment? Work harder and avoid the union. Isolation, not socialization.

Behold the 21st century: Global warming. Global financial crisis. Global swine flu pandemic. They terrorize the world everyday affecting the health, environment and livelihood of everyone. The appropriate response should be to wage a global collective fight against this triple global menace. But global radical politics is shunned by many as we continue to associate it with the western definition of terrorism. We embrace the preferred, accepted, and mainstream solutions to global disasters.   And so many seemed content that they lead politically-correct lifestyles (I buy green, I do not discriminate against the minorities, I oppose the Junta and Ayatollah); their salaried jobs insulate them from the most brutal impact of the economic crash; and their best defense against the virus is to wear facemasks everyday. They change the world by adding advocacies in their facebook pages.

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