The Rice Chronicles: Shackles of Morality

Continuing from here...

...opinions of an expert (a former agriculture secretary ata or something)...

1. There is no rice shortage, at least not for the moment. - Hmmmm, I think I agree. It could be that the hype is just making a bad situation look worse. And I think that the real issue is the spate of hoarding that some unscrupulous rice retailers/dealers are doing. More importantly, maybe this problem just highlights the lack of policies that could effectively manage it. Or, it could be that there are policies but no sound implementation capabilities.
2. The government should also look at the population issue. The problem on how to ensure that there is adequate supply of rice is closely tied with the problem of population. It is just impossible to separate these two. - Ayan, ayan naman. Current daily consumption of rice is estimated at 23,000 metric tons according to a report that I read somewhere. This figure is projected to balloon to 36,000 metric tons of rice in a few (very few actually) years time. Clearly, there is an increasing number of mouths to feed. Oo nga naman, how can current production capacity cope with a population growth that is shooting up to the sky in record levels in a blink of an eye? There was a challenge thrown to both the government and the church...please address the population issue. To which the church maintains...they have always been advocating for population control but only through moral means. Hmmm, makes me wonder...saang konsepto ng morality papasok yung hahayaang ipanganak ang mga bata at mamulat sa gutom at kamangmangan? Condom/pill vs. a child abandoned and just waiting to die...where does morality come in?

I remember the song "Magtanim ay di biro..." and I cannot help but think that indeed, planting rice, planting seeds is not quite easy as it seems. But plant, we all must. Plant seeds of hope and change because in the end, it might just be the only good thing we can really leave in this world.