The Ethos of Rice behind the Traditional Culture of Rice and its Production in the Philippines

1. The Ethos of Rice behind the Traditional Culture of Rice and its Production in the Philippines Jeanette L. Yasol-Naval University of the Philippines, Diliman

2. Background of the Study • Rice is produced globally and Asia produces more than 91% of the global harvest. It supplies 80% of people’s daily calories in Asia.” (GRAIN, 1998)

3. Background of the Study • In the Philippines, rice accounts to 41% of total calorie where average consumption is gauged at 103 kilograms per capita per annum. (Layosa 2007) • Around 62% of the country’s grain area is being used to produce rice. • Rice farming provides income and employment to 11.5 million farmers and their families. (Quijano and Adapon 2007)

4. Background of the Study Rice represents life. Rice has long been a part of the Philippine cultural identity. It is a semiotic representation of a very diverse discourse in history, culture, social status and power, social relationships, and the morality and ethics of the people.

5. Background of the Study While there are other crops being grown in the country, there is nothing that gives the Filipinos their identity than rice.

6. As Rice is a very important item in the daily lives of the Filipinos, so is the ethos that it embodies and promotes.

7. ETHOS • Ethos(ἦθος ) is the root word of ethikos (ἠθικός) and the origin of the English word ethics.

8. The collective traditions, customs, practices of the people that are associated with rice and rice production; and the analysis of how they value rice and the underlying attitude of the people towards themselves, their community and their environment, will be referred to by the term ‘ethos of rice.’

9. This research is a study on the ethos of rice based on the Traditional Culture of Rice and Rice Production in Nueva Ecija

10. Participant observation was used as a tool in the data gathering of the study, but the data gathering was not conducted on a particular period just intended for the research study. • The researcher is a native of Nueva Ecija and has been a constant observer of the system of rice production all her life. • Her views and interpretation of the farm life in the province are parts of the hermeneutical interpretation and reading of the rice and rice farming practices in Nueva Ecija.

11. Methodology • Data gathering strategy was basically through key informant interviews, informal interviews, participant observation and through secondary data gathering.

12. The Setting • The province of Nueva Ecija occupies the eastern rim of the Central Luzon Plains and is completely landlocked by the provinces of Pampanga in the southwest, Bulacan in the southeast, Tarlac in the west, Pangasinan in the northwest, Nueva Viscaya in the Northeast, and Aurora in the East.

13. It has a total land area of 550, 718 hectares, and 90% of its agricultural lands is planted with rice. The province is among the highest producers of rice in the country, hence is referred to as “the rice bowl of the Philippines.” The yield of 93% of its irrigated rice areas and 86% of the rain fed rice areas are already surplus to the rice consumption of the province, which provide rice for the rest of the country’s population. Nueva Ecija

14. The Ethos of Rice behind the Farmers’ Stories

15. A. “Angbigas ay biyayangDiyos” Rice is a grace from God • The farmers believe that the growing of rice is not entirely within their control and that they are at the mercy of certain environmental conditions. This is the reason why they try to employ the help of the divine in all of the stages of rice production, from the preparation of seeds and transplanting until harvest time which may be glimpsed in their practice of reciting prayers, offering of chickens, or calling on the ‘tigday’ or the community spirit. • They understand that no matter how hard they work on the land nurturing their rice, if the environmental conditions become unfavorable, their good labor won’t pay off.

16. A. “Angbigas ay biyayangDiyos” Rice is a grace from God • Farmers recognize the fact that they grow their rice not out of their own accord but with the help of God or the divine being. The farmers understand their rightful place and limitations in the whole cycle of rice production. What they produce is not entirely theirs. It belongs first and foremost to the invisible, divine being that own the land where they sow. Rice will not be served if not for the graces and approval of these beings with whom they share the grain.

17. B. Rice is an extension of oneself • Having to work on the land for countless number of hours and making rice farming a way of life, it is not surprising why most of the seasoned farmers who were informantsofthe study felt that the land and the rice it grows is a part if not an extension of themselves. • Their custom of requiring farmers to plant only on full stomach shows how their fullness is being extended to the growing of rice crop. They believe that this practice will eventually translate to their rice crop bearing full grains.

18. B. Rice is an extension of oneself • In the ritual of hitting the first bundle of seedlings on their hands or the dikes so their hands and the whole body will be able to endure the long days of planting, the contact that is being established as the seedlings touch the hands and then the dikes, may be taken as a way of establishing a connection between the farmer and his rice and land, creating ‘oneness.’ • In recognition of this oneness and interconnectedness, the work of planting does not become isolated from the farmer who plants the rice, and the soil where it is being planted. And as such, the work does not become work anymore as the farmer is only dealing with himself and the extensions of himself, hence he does not feel the pain of a long day’s work planting in his rice paddies.

19. B. Rice is an extension of oneself • The oneness can also be seen from the way they take the utmost care in transplanting the first bunch of seedlings, planting them lightly and not so deeply that they may not injure the soil as this may eventually be translated as an injury to oneself.

20. C. Rice gives a sense of fulfillment and completeness • The sense of fulfillment and completeness is something only the farmers may understand. • TiyaGueldescribes the wonderful feeling as she dries her grains under the sun, and how the idea of going to her farm to weed makes her rise every morning. She shares her pleasure of looking at the golden field of rice panicles full of grains when her rice is ready for harvest! “Walanang mas masarap pa namakita mo ang iyongpalaynabusognabusog at maaarinanganihin.”

21. C. Rice gives a sense of fulfillment and completeness • MangEnchong’srusty feet always seek for the mud of his rice paddies and how he is made stronger by his rice farming • AteNora’s belief that it is the breath of rice that sustains the farmer’s spirit in her! • As their farms and the work therein had become part of themselves, alienating the farmers from their rice and its production would surely create a vacuum that would make them feel incomplete and less fulfilled.

22. D. Rice is the foundation of families • The rice field is a family heirloom. It keeps and holds the past and the future of the family. They remember the entire family lineage that worked on the land and how they were all nurtured by that land and the rice it produced. • The future of the children, which includes their education depend on their rice. This is so evident as farmers would always say: “Sana magandaanganikasimatrikula (tuition) nanaman.” ( I hope the harvest is good because it is enrolment time again.) “Maramingbuhayangnanggalingdito(rice field).” (Many lives were nurtured by this rice field.)

23. D. Rice is the foundation of families • The importance of rice to the family is embodied in how it is able to build the past, present, and future of the family. This is clearly the reason why letting go of the farm that gives them rice is like throwing away the memories and legacies of the family regardless of whether the life that was nurtured by rice was blissful or not.

24. D. Rice is the foundation of families • As rice builds the family, it also binds it. It facilitates communication with the siblings as they engage themselves in seed sharing, land sharing and providing for the needs of aging family members or their respective families.

25. D. Rice is the foundation of families From a cosmological standpoint, rice is like a cosmic force in the field that creates a clout that engulfs everybody who works there giving them the sense of unity and again oneness. When anybody would see himself not as part of the whole, then this is where conflict arises. This could be manifested when some siblings would like to allocate more for himself and disregard the others.

26. E. Rice builds a community of people who embody the ethos of “UtangnaLoob”, “Pakikisama” at “Bayanihan” • Rice facilitates the building of social relations beyond the family. Oftentimes, families are overwhelmed by the magnitude of farm work that they need to seek for outside help. Families of neighboring farms as well as those who don’t have farms anymore but are willing to offer paid labor are always being tapped. The farmers believe that “bayanihan” is still alive except that it has evolved into a new form, in that those who render help must be paid.

27. E. Rice builds a community of people who embody the ethos of “UtangnaLoob,” “Pakikisama” at “Bayanihan” • What is interesting is the fact that both the farmer who seeks help and the one who helps feel a debt of gratitude or the Filipino ethos of ‘utangnaloob’ to one another despite the fact that there is payment involved.

28. E. Rice builds a community of people who embody the ethos of “UtangnaLoob,” “Pakikisama” at “Bayanihan” • People who are asked to render labor and the one who asks for it, basically know one another, and a seeming animosity between the hired labor and the land owner would surely prevent the former from joining. Could this imply that they will not work for someone they don’t like and will not contribute his labor (albeit paid) to nurture the farm of someone he does not like? • This is logical, so it is reasonable to think that with the paid labor also goes ‘an internally motivated willingness to share one’s labor in the nurturance of something very vital like rice.’

29. E. Rice builds a community of people who embody the ethos of “UtangnaLoob”, “Pakikisama” at “Bayanihan” • This could be where the ethos of ‘utangnaloob’ is coming from. Both parties are thankful and each owing a debt of gratitude (nangungutanganngloob) for having been helped and for having been paid for the help rendered.

30. F. Rice shapes the activities of people • As rice builds a community of people, it is also a factor that could dictate their lifestyle and activities. It is not surprising that the farming communities in Nueva Ecija manifest a lifestyle that is shaped by its agricultural nature. Farmers’ activities all revolve around the seasonal calendar of rice. They plan their weddings, children’s baptism, family reunions, etc. usually after harvest time, even the games that children play. • ‘Holen’ (marbles) are usually played at the start of planting season; and farmers encourage playing this game. • Turumpo (tops) – farmers don’t like it when children start playing with their tops. This means, the soil is dry and hard.

31. Rice shapes the activities of people • Why are the Novo Ecijanos choosy with their rice? Why are there towns like Peñaranda, Gen. Tinio, San Antonio which became synonymous with mouth watering rice cakes? How come the barrios in Nueva Ecija celebrate Rice feasts? • Why is it that rice in the Philippines is known bydifferent names? Palay-Bigas- Kanin- Tutong- Bahaw • All these show that rice is important for the people in Nueva Ecija. And as such, it is reflected in all their activities.

32. G. Rice can alienate or empower the farmers • There were accounts by the farmers that show how some technologies being introduced, like the integrated pest management or the formation of farmers’ organization, have somewhat empowered them. Their being partners in finding solution to their problems in the field, and the way agricultural technicians recognize their legitimate observations of their own farms have given them more power to control their rice production. • For the tenant farmers who don’t own their lands and who depend on the land owners for the seed and the technologies to use, the experience of rice farming was also alienating.

33. H. Rice as an economic instrument • Rice production gives them food and provides for the basic education of their children. They grow rice so the family will eat and the children will learn. It is the material return of their hard labor on the field. This is the economic value of rice.

34. H. Rice as an economic instrument • When the farmers plant their rice so the family’s need will be provided, the value of rice here is economical, it is different when they farm and look at the production ONLY as a return of capital. Should the latter be the case, the farmers become unmindful of how their present activities could affect the diminishing production of the land which nurtures their rice, and therefore develop an unfavorable attitude towards the land. In the end, they may fail in their mathematical computations of appraising the value of their rice as they fail to include all the possible components for the overhead.

35. Environmental Ethics

36. I. A Strong Affinity with the Environment Bringsan Intimate Knowledge of the Nature of Rice Production • the sight and sound of kiwing bird and the appearance of fire-colored flowers of gebgeb, are the barometers of the most suitable temperature and amount of rainfall necessary to start sowing. • the cycle of rice planting always revolve around the changing seasons, phases of the moon and the movement of the tides.

37. The use of certain plants like tanglad, kabling, madre de cacao and talahib were identified as some of the ways they deal with butterflies, worms even the green leafhopper. Their observation that these plants either repel or attract the harmful insects point to the fact that they are very much attuned with nature or they would not be able to notice the effect of certain plants to insects.

38. I. A Strong Affinity with the Environment Bringsan Intimate Knowledge of the Nature of Rice Production • The farmers’ first hand observation made possible this vital knowledge of his farm’s ecosystem. • It is therefore noteworthy how these epistemologies on rice and rice production were generated through an intimate relationship with nature.

39. II. Rice Farming Generates an Attitude of Respect Towards the Unseen Spirit of Nature and the Co-inhabitants of the Field • There is a recognition of the fact that the land and the rice it bears is being shared with the divine and the other co-inhabitants of the field. It generates an attitude of respect on the part of the farmers. • It manifests a humble cooperation if not submission to the non-human, non-living part of the environment that determines the fate of his very vulnerable crop.

40. III. Rice that represents love for the family translates to an ethicfor the land • To live in a rice producing community is to engage more in the land and to work longer hours cultivating the soil where the rice grows. As rice symbolizes love for the family, then such loving relationship could easily translate into an ethic for the land, if not a love for the land which provides for the growing of the grains.

41. The ethos of rice for the farmers in the Philippines particularly in the province of Nueva Ecija, and the economics of their rice production must be viewed in the sense that rice is not just a plain economic commodity but its system of production is an embodiment of a unique farmer-land relationship, it is an investment of time, skill, faith, taste and a whole array of valuations.#