THE PROBLEM OF FOOD AND INFLATION: A CASE STUDY FROM THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION

THE PROBLEM OF FOOD AND INFLATION: A CASE STUDY FROM THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

One of the lasting impressions of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, particularly in Manila and other cities, was -- and still is -- the shortage of food. Rice and other basic foodstuffs in the city increasingly became difficult to find, and where available, the prices were almost always unaffordable to the ordinary people. This problem had been foreseen before the war not only by Philippine officials but also by the Japanese military planners, who had evolved tentative plans to forestall such a crisis. This paper seeks to examine the conditions at the outbreak of the war, the various production and distribution plans evolved during the Japanese occupation, and the reasons for their lack of success.

TECHNICAL PAPERS: SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

One. Conditions and Plans Before the War

Prior to World War Two, the Philippines had not been self-sufficient in many types of food, particularly its staple food, rice, and the Philippines had to import rice from its Southeast Asian neighbors, as well as large amounts of canned foods, meats, dairy products, wheat, and bread. This was due to several factors: antiquated methods of farming; shortage of fertilizers and irrigation systems; a feudal landlord-tenant system, wherein farmers were kept in debt and not encouraged to produce more; a national economy which encouraged the planting of export crops like sugar, over staple foods like rice, resulting in lesser areas planted to food; an increasing population, especially in the cities where little food was produced; a distribution system controlled by Chinese and a few others. Yield per hectare was low, averaging only twenty-six cavans of palay. If a crisis developed and imports were stopped, the Philippines could face a severe shortage of food.

In nineteen thirty-five, the Philippines had entered a ten-year preparatory period towards independence, with the inauguration of a semi-autonomous Commonwealth government under President Manuel L. Quezon. Facing a severe rice crisis that same year, the Commonwealth established the National Rice and Corn Corporation to stabilize prices and supply of these basic staple foods. This corporation aimed to nationalize the rice industry and set prices where they would be beneficial to farmers and affordable to consumers. It sought to do this by importing rice if local supplies fell short, and to build a stock pile which could be distributed to areas where prices were high, thus causing prices to go down.

Quezon sought to increase food production by increasing the number of irrigation systems, advocating more modern and scientific planting methods. He also planned a series of social justice programs, among them purchasing agricultural estates from the church with plans of redistributing this land to farmer-tenants.

These plans were well-meant, but they moved slowly, and by the time World War Two began in Europe, conditions had hardly changed. With the outbreak of war in Europe, a potential food crisis developed. Merchant ships were diverted to the war front and prices began rising. To cope with the situation, Quezon sought, and was granted, emergency powers to, among others, order idle lands to be planted to food crops, and to mobilize civilians to produce food. Quezon also created the Emergency Control Board in October nineteen thirty-nine to set up a schedule of maximum prices. In April, nineteen forty-one, Quezon created the Civilian Emergency Administration to deal with the troubled conditions and to safeguard the people from the ravages of war, should hostilities reach the Philippines.

The Civilian Emergency Administration had a Food Administration office which tried to build up stocks of rice and other food commodities. Despite the many plans, only limited success was met: ships to bring the rice to the Philippines were few, and the rice price in other Southeast Asian countries had gone up, causing enterprising businessmen to export some much-needed rice to make windfall profits. Quezon had to ban the export of rice and other foodstuffs from the Philippines. The Civilian Emergency Administration also launched a food production campaign, urging the planting of "Victory Gardens" in idle lands. The threat of war, however, was not taken seriously by most people, who felt the Japanese would not dare to attack the United States. Food production and stocking measures thus continued at a peace-time pace.