Our beautiful land, people, and faith

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.”  – Psalm 138:7

 This is the strength of our people: Our faith in God, our belief in the Lord’s words that He is the vine and all of us are the branches. It is God who allows us to believe that even as we are bombarded with so much problems, we continue to trust that “the center of trouble is the place where He preserves us, not the place where He fails us.” (April 23 reading, Streams in the Desert).

Did you see the wide rice fields of Nueva Ecija and Isabela and the rich bountiful harvest of the farmers there? Did you also see the almost rotting rice grains awaiting to be bought to reach those who need rice elsewhere?

The productive lands and the bountiful harvest and unsold rice stocks spell hope for this beautiful country - these show us that even amidst the so-called, still undefined “rice crisis,” our farmers will not abandon us and will continue to supply us with rice IF their production needs are supplied and the irrigation of their fields is assured (in the least expensive way). Of course, it goes without saying, genuine agrarian reform, providing land ownership to the tillers and effective production and distribution support for them, will fulfill the ultimate dream of countless generations of our farmers.

As our farmers assure us of their help in producing rice and food items, however, they, in turn, are asking for our help. They are telling us, as they have been telling us for decades now, that they cannot continue producing through the present rice production system which assures more quantity of harvest but which makes them poorer because of the extreme high costs for the high-yielding seed varieties, for the inorganic and environmentally unfriendly fertilizers and chemicals, and, for more labor and irrigation.

They can, however, produce rice more sustainably by reverting to traditional rice varieties and methods. Doing so will lessen their expenses, allow them to have more earning, and even preserve and protect the environment.

Remember the days when you had very sweet-smelling fresh organic rice on your table? Remember how the traditional rice varieties of our past came in wide varieties of color and nostalgic smells? Did not those times reflect the wonderful, beautiful closeness of our farmers with God’s generous gift of land and rain, and our closeness and interdependence with our own farmers, our own food producers, our own kababayan?

Perhaps our patriotic scientists and business people can improve the sustainable production of our own rice varieties. Doing so will assure us of rice self-sufficiency and of food security. Producing organic rice and food items will assure us of healthier people, of less or zero expense for imported seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, for large-scale (electricity-based) irrigation. Our educational system can be tailored to allow students to assist farmers during the crucial labor-intensive months of planting and harvesting. Not only will the farmers save on labor costs with this method, it will teach our students the invaluable lesson that planting rice is a noble task, one that shows how people and nature interact to bring out the blessings and provisions from God.

This environment month of April, the present food crisis is showing us that this country is beautiful, we still have so much lands that can be properly tapped to produce enough for us all and that our farmers, remain bullish (carabao-ish) in their hard task to produce rice and food for themselves and for other Filipinos. We go beyond the farms and we see the same beauty in our seas and waters, where our fisherfolk sail out each day to bring back enough fish for all.

Let us prefer to focus on the beauty of our land, the beauty of our hardworking food producers, the beauty of our faith. Let us not be blinded by the acts of the greedy and selfish who destroy the beauty of our land, of our people, and of our faith – those who destroy our earth and those who keep rice, fish, and food away from our people because of their greed to own and to profit more.

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