The C-Spot: A Photography, Travel and Culture Journal

Before anything else, let me first disabuse the readers' mind of a possible mis-reading of this blog that may be caused by it's title. This is NOT AN EXPOSÉ of shenanigans in the rice industry, nor is this designed to blow the whistle on any corrupt person or persons. This is just a simple re-telling some of the stories told among those who are or had been in the industry for sometime, in their capacity as either part of the government, or the private trade sector, as farmers or consumers, or as plain observers of the industry. Ever since I was employed in the government, specifically the National Food Authority (and that is some 30 + years ago), allegations of corruption have always been made against the NFA, its employees, officials, and even against some private sector partners, e.g. rice millers, wholesalers and retailers. The sources of these allegations vary; from the farmers, the consumers, the grains retailers, and even NFA's own personnel. Ma...

On the demand side: Statistically, the Filipinos consume about 32,000 metric tons per day. Annually, therefore, the Philippines' rice requirement is 11.68 million metric tons (derived by multiplying 32,000 metric tons by 365 days). On the supply side: According to published reports, Philippine rice production is about 15.33 million metric tons in 2006 and 16.24 million metric tons for 2007. Analysis: If we produce about 15 to 16 million metric tons and we require some 11 and a half million metrics tons, then we have what is called a production surplus of about 5 million metric tons (16-11=5). Conclusion: There is no need to import rice. Well...not quite. As I've indicated in one of my earlier posts, the rice issue is a little bit more complicated. Other Issues: - Post-harvest losses The estimated rough rice or palay to be harvested goes through a series of what is called post-harvest processing, such as the harvesting itself, threshing (a process of separatin...

Though this blog would seem to focus on the element of population as a factor affecting the rice issue, I think I'll try to widen the scope by covering the issue of Demand, in general. It has often been said that the rice issue, or more particularly the failure or success in making and implementing policies on it, could spell the fate of any administration.* This is so because the Philippine population (at least about 85% of it, because some 15% are corn eaters), are rice consumers. Rice is the main component of any filipino meal. Everybody knows about how a Pinoy travelling abroad would go out of his way to look for a chinese or Asian restaurant if only to able to eat rice. Sometimes, its said that some Pinoys feel a little weak after going for days without rice in his meals. So more filipinos means bigger demand for rice. According to some reports I've read,  the Philippine population rate of increase is very high, if not the highest, at least in the Asian region. I hea...

Given the"controversy" in rice that is apparently enveloping our controversy-hungry nation, I feel there's a need for me, an employee of the agency at the center of all these (the NFA), to at least try and help others "sort-out'' the issues for better appreciation. I am not doing this to make any excuses or lay blame to anyone or that sort of thing. But if I come through like I'm trying to justify things, then that's the readers' call. The issue of rice is indeed a complicated one and not so easy to explain but for the sake of brevity, I'll use "bullet-points" approach to clarify certain things which I think are not clear to most and somehow become or are used as basis for baseless conclusions or misunderstanding of the rice issue. - Issue: Thailand sent their students to study agriculture and learn rice production technology here in the Philippines in the 60s and 70s, and just learned from us, so to speak, so how come they are...

Rating: ★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Drama “There’s a way to be good again.” This is the promo-blurb one sees on the movie posters promoting the movie, “The Kite Runner.” I first saw it as a movie trailer when I went to watch “Bucket List.” The movie is a cinematographic presentation of a 2003 bestseller novel of the same title by an Afghan-American, Khaled Hosseini, a physician by training and profession. It tells the story of an extraordinary bond between two men, who in their innocent, happy and youthful years were kite fighters and kite runners. Kite runners refer to those who retrieve kites downed in a kite fight. As I am often wont to, it’s not the story that usually catches my interest. Most of the time, it is something quite trivial or a seemingly small detail that gets my attention, such as a colorful poster, a picture of the actors, etc. Presently, it is the term “kite runner” that has attracted my curiosity. But in the meantime, please allow me to digress a bit from the movi...