NINETEENTH CONGRESS                  )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES    )
First Regular session                            )
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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EXPLANATORY NOTE
The country is experiencing rice crisis right now.   The prices of staple foods continue
to  rise.    This  problem  is  very  ironic  considering  that  Philippines  has  vast farmlands.    One
recommendation to solve the rice crisis is to launch another Green Revolution.
Government officials   and  business leaders who are seeking a long-term solution to
the   perennial   problem   of  rice  shortage   in  the  country  would   do  well  to   consider  the
recommendations   made   by  experts   at  the   recent     Asian-European   Editors   Forum   in
Bangkok.   The recommendations include the  launching of another Green  Revolution which,
according to the New York Times,  is generally believed to have saved one billion  lives over
six decades.
The  Green  Revolution  raised  rice  yields  in  Asia  from  1.5  tons  per  hectare  in  the
1960s  to  4  tons  per  hectare  today,     Duncan   Macintosh,   development  director  of  the
International  Rice Research  Institute which  played a  key role in the project,  said  lR8 (semi-
dwarf)  launched  the  Green  Revolution  and  saved  tens  of  millions  from  starvation  in  Asia.
The  Green  Revolution was  also the foundation for startling  economic growth  in  Southeast
Asia.
The Green Revolution in the  1960s up to the early part of the 1980s was one of the
major factors  that  enabled  the  Philippines  not  only  to  be  self-sufficient  in  rice  but  also  to
export  some  of  it  to   neighboring   countries   in   1977-78.     There   is   no   reason  why  the
Philippines,  with  its  natural  resources,  trained  manpower  and  favorable  climate,  cannot
replicate the Green Revolution and finally attain rice self-sufficiency.
The experts' recommendations at the Bangkok forum included:
Increasing  productivity  in  rain-fed  rice which  could  reduce  poverty  and  increase  global  food
supplies.
Providing adequate water control by setting up intensive, productive irrigated systems.
Developing  the  means for farmers to adopt and  use existing  technologies that are  known to
raise yields.
Developing rice varieties that can cope with climate change.    Macintosh said that an increase
in temperature of 1  degree Celsius causes a  10 percent drop in yield.    He said problems that
are bad now and will worsen with climate change are droughts, flooding and salinity.
Solving the problem of too much water including recurrent flooding, because rice clowns in an
excess of water.
Intensifying  research  for  environmental[y  and  socially  adapted  plants,  including  hybrid  plant
breeding and genetic engineering.
Making  agriculture  a  political  priority  and  increasing  investments  in  rural  infrastructure  and
market developments.
8.
This bill seeks to address the  problem of rice crisis and  to ensure  rice production  in
the country.
In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.


NINETEENTH CONGRESS                  )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES    )
First Regular session                            )
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Introduced by Representative Rufus a. Rodriguez
HouseBillNo.5LELI
AN ACT
LAUNCHING ANOTHER GREEN REVOLUTION PROGRAM IN THE COUNTRY
Be  it erl?ct_ed  in the  Senate  and  House of Representatives of the  Philippines  in  Congress
assembled:
Secfi.on  7.  Dec/arafi.on  of Po/i.cy.  -  lt  is  the  declared  policy  of the  state  to  sustain  rice
production in the country.
Secfi.on 2. Re-/aunchi.ng of Green Revo/ut;.on.- To sustain rice production in the country,
the   Department  of  Agriculture  shall   re-launch  a  Green   Revolution   Program  taking   into
consideration the following:
a.)  increasing productivity in rain-fed rice;
b.)   providing    adequate   water   control    by   setting    up   intensive,
productive irrigated systems;
c,)  developing  the  means  for  farmers  to  adopt  and  use  existing
technologies that are known to raise yields;
d.)  developing rice varieties that can cope with climate change;
e.)  solving   the   problem   of   too   much   water   including   recurrent
flooding;
f.)    intensifying  research  for  environmentally  and  socially  adapted
plants, including hybrid plant breeding and genetic engineering.
Secfi-on.  3.  ApproprT-afi-ons.   The  necessary  budget to  implement this  Program   shall  be
included in the 2009 budget of the Department of Agriculture.
Secti.on 4.       Ru/es and Regu/ati-ons. -The Department of Agriculture shall  promulgate
the rules and regulations for the effective enforcement of the provisions of this Act
Secfi-on 5.  Separabi.//.fy C/ause. - Should any provision of this Act or any part thereof be
declared  invalid,  the  other  provisions,  so far as  they  are  separable from  the  invalid  ones,
shall remain in full force and effect.
Secfi.on 6.    Repea/i.ng C/ause. -  All laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations or parts
thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Secfi.on  7.      Effect/.yi.fy.    -   This  Act  shall  take  effect fifteen  (15)  days  after  its  complete
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,