Philippines: No Need to Suspend Bio-Fuels Program to Solve Rice Crisis

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.
(PDP-Laban) today said he sees no need to suspend the
government’s bio-fuels program so that more
agricultural lands can be devoted to the planting of
rice and other crops.

Pimentel said the government should not backtrack from
developing alternative, renewable sources of energy
that are abundant in the country to further reduce our
dependence on imported oil which is becoming less and
less affordable to Filipinos as its price has exceeded
$100 per barrel in the world market.

“With the price of crude oil shooting up to $106 per
barrel, there may come a time when we could no longer
afford this imported commodity. We should not stop
working to attain self-sufficiency in energy,” said
Pimentel, principal author of the Bio-Fuels Act of
2007 (Republic Act No. 9367).

He was reacting to the proposal of certain quarters,
including some legislators, to set aside or postpone
the implementation of the Bio-Fuels Law due to
apprehensions that it may endanger the country’s food
security, specially in the wake of the current rice
crisis.

Pimentel said the fears that the production of
bio-fuels – also called “green” or plant-based fuels –
may be affecting food production may be true in the
United States and Europe where corn, wheat and sorghum
crops are the main ingredients for making ethanol as a
substitute fuel for motor vehicles.

However, he said the situation in the Philippines is
entirely different because sugarcane or bagasse is
being used here as main ingredient for ethanol.

Pimentel pointed out that this will not affect sugar
supply in the domestic market because the bulk of the
country’s sugar production is being exported.

Furthermore, Pimentel said the Department of
Agriculture has already identified sizeable areas of
agricultural lands that can be develop as additional
rice plantations.

He explained that ethanol production will enable sugar
planters to make profitable use of their excess
sugarcane after meeting domestic requirements and
export quotas. He said the bagasse, after the sugar
extraction of sugar, usually end up as farm wastes.

Pimentel said the production of coco-diesel has led to
increased demand for coconut oil, giving a much-needed
shot-in-the-arm to the ailing coconut industry. At
present, coconut oil is widely used for cooking oil
but the bulk of this product is exported to other
countries.