PhilRice unveils RICEponsible drive

SCIENCE CITY OF MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija – The Philippine Rice Research Institute launched last Friday its “Be RICEponsible campaign” which intends to sustain the momentum of increased rice production following the success of last year’s National Year of Rice (NYR) drive.

          Hazel Antonio, PhilRice senior science research specialist, said the new rice mantra was presented to the public Friday at the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) art museum.

          She said the campaign is a fitting sequel to last year’s campaign which was anchored on President Aquino’s issuance of Presidential Proclamation 494 declaring 2013 as National Year of Rice.

She said in the Be RICEponsible campaign, implementers will be reinforcing the behaviors that the National Year of Rice tried to impart to the public and policymakers. “We continously urge the public to be RICEponsible. That is, not to waste rice, consume brown rice, eat healthier sources of carbohydrates, and value the hard work of the rice farmers,” Antonio said.

          Antonio said the presidential proclamation translated into a 2.3% increase in production in 2013 over that of 2012. “In 2013, palay production was at 18.44 million metric tons which is 2.3% higher than the 2012 output of 18.03 million MT,” she said.

She added that this showed that Filipinos can still accomplish more in spite of last year’s calamities.

          Antonio, the campaign’s director, said some local government units have been contributing their share in the rice conservation campaign with towns in Aklan, Bohol, Ilocos Norte and La Union passing half-rice ordinances.

          In Quezon City, she said the city council passed a resolution calling on  major fast-food chains and restaurants to serve brown rice. – Manny Galvez