De La Salle University

C72 MW16:15-17:45

800-WORD ESSAY ABOUT ASEAN

For Finals Requirements

Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business

Submitted by:

Alcalde, Nicole S.

January 18, 2020

Midterms 800-Word Individual Essay with the theme: PROBLEMS OF THE PHILIPPINE

ECONOMY

Essay #2 Topic: The Failure in Fostering the Agriculture’s Potential for the Philippine

Economy's Radical Change.

The Philippine economy has had differing records of growth and development. In recent

times, the Philippines has shifted from being one of the richest countries in Asia to being one of

the poorest.

Significant sectors of the Philippine economy that have potential to uplift and enrich a country

include agriculture and industry, particularly food processing. Agriculture has an important part

in the country’s economy, specifically, the Philippine Economy. As the Philippines is known to

be privileged with such pristine resources, containing various kinds of bodies of water, lands

that are abundant in soil fertility partnered with a climate complimentary in growing numerous

kinds of high valued crops, this resulted in the Philippines having been primarily known as an

agricultural country. However, we have failed in fostering such potential.

Instead, the focus was given to economic industrialization. Our priorities resulted in letting us

fail to remember our fundamental need for survival. Factually speaking, the agricultural sector

employs only 40 percent of the Filipino workers but supplies less than one-fifth of the country’s

GDP. Agriculture, forestry, and fishery report for only just 20 percent of the economy’s gross

domestic output (GDP).

Comparing these numbers to countries who dominate and give significance to agriculture,

Philippines remains at rock bottom. While the majority still think of the Philippines as an

agricultural economy,realistically, and based on hard data, this idea sadly remains to be untrue.

The role of agriculture in the Philippine economy has experienced a radical shift. At the moment,

agriculture is grappling from low productivity, low economies-of-scale, and inadequate

infrastructure support. If this continually happens, over 100 million Filipinos are affected.

Having said that the Philippine agriculture has so much to offer and numerous capabilities to

radically shift the economy’s position into a favorable side, there is however, scarcity in

financing, insufficient investments for infrastructures, weak government policies that come and

hinder this potential.

Regardless of these hindrances, the specific recognition of the critical roles of the agriculture

sector in a country’s overall economic development can still be of use for people to somehow

grasp the potential that’s slowly slipping away. Fundamentally, agriculture supplies food and

essential raw materials for the rest of the economy. Also, it provides endless possibilities for
branches of markets that cater non-agricultural products that would result in the progress of the

economy. And to further solidify agriculture’s importance, as the sector grows and modernizes in

the face of limited supplies of agricultural land, it releases surplus labor to the industry and

services sectors. (Briones, R., 2005) Agriculture incorporates all industries to work together to

increase the economy’s standing. With the progression of agriculture, it is key for the continual

collaboration in research and development to further unveil and bring about innovations that

would unquestionably help solve the eventual challenges in agriculture. Having more than half of

the country’s population living from the rural areas wherein agriculture is one of the prominent

sources of livelihood, agriculture’s vital role to the Philippine economy remains to be

understated.

It is as clear as day that the failure does not majorly originate from the production sector itself,

but rather in the deficiency of allocating focus on the right priorities and the failure to foster the

evident potential of what agriculture can give. The institutional environment in which the sector

operates is also at fault due to the weak and faulty price intervention policies, small-scale

budgets, and hardly any appropriate investments. Adequate budget to fund vital infrastructure

and projects that is essential for the efficiency of productivity of the sector has hardly been met

over the past decades. Construction of efficient irrigation systems, to cite one of many, is crucial

for the sector. However, none has been received and built. According to datas, irrigation

investments have continuously decreased from the 1980s through the early 1990s. It is a

necessity to invest in roads for rural areas to gain a much easier access, likewise, no investments

have been made. Research & development (R&D) is poorly financed compared to those in other

countries. Instead, scanty resources was used to fund costly activities such as provision of post-
harvest facilities, marketing, and credit subsidies, which are probably better off left to the market

(Tolentino et al. 2001) when establishing an appropriate system of incentive structure would be

more beneficial for the swift development of agriculture. The regime has unendingly proved

inefficiency, negligence, and failure.

Agriculture is slowly vanishing and this is a naked, unfortunate reality.

There are over 10 million rice farmers in the Philippines. Considering that these farmers have

families to support, this affects a large section of the population, accounting over 100 million

Filipinos, and they are suffering. And this is the hard truth that the country is facing, it will

always remain disturbing unless corrective actions are taken.

The essential actions to attain radical change to the sector’s decline that would be beneficial on a

long-term period is the integration of policy reforms, improved implementation of existing

policies and programs, capacity-building, market reforms, improved governance and strong

negotiation with trading partners. These are daunting tasks that the government alone cannot

undertake. (Briones, 2005) By executing such a plan, over 100 million Filipinos will have their

lives changed. It is widely known and stated relentlessly that the government has nothing to offer

but failure and that it has neglected to address sectoral concerns, including the agricultural sector.

However, it is important to note that the execution of action plans and programs is also one of

the pivotal factors where the failures lie. That being so, good governance and designated reforms

in the agriculture sector rest at the core of addressing the ancient constraints to attain the

potential of radical change that the Philippine agriculture has.

REFERENCES:

❖ De Guzman, S. (2018, June 18). Agriculture is Dying in the Philippines. Philstar.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/06/18/1825542/agriculture-dying-philippines

❖ Dejaresco, Z. (2019, September 12). The tragedy of Filipino rice farmers. Business

Mirror.https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/09/12/the-tragedy-of-the-filipino-rice-

farmers/

❖ Briones, R. (2013, January). Philippine Agriculture to 2020: Threats and Opportunities

from Global Trade. Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

https://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps1314.pdf

❖ Philippines - Agriculture. (n.d). Nation’s Encyclopedia.

https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Philippines-

AGRICULTURE.html

❖ Philippines. (n.d). History Central.

https://www.historycentral.com/nationbynation/Philippines/Economy.html

❖ Habito, C. Briones, R. (2005, January). Philippine Agriculture over the Years:

Performance, Policies and Pitfalls. Research Gate.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265248373_Philippine_Agriculture_over_the_

Years_Performance_Policies_and_Pitfalls_1