Wanted: A Farmer King! Understanding King Bhumibol’s ‘Sufficient Economy Philosophy”

In the Southern Philippines today, a giant Thai multi-national agricultural corporation, Charoen Pokphand Foods, is engaging local farmers and producers as it expands its chicken, hog and Vannamei production but setting high standards in product quality.
I will not be surprised if years from now, CP Foods Philippines will be a dominant player in poultry, hog and shrimps production in the Philippines.
The shelves of many supermarkets, including COSTCO, in the United States are filled with arrays of Thai Agricultural products which the Philippines could have easily produced too.
How did Thailand become so strong in Agriculture and Aquaculture when many of their experts actually studied at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños and the International Rice Research Institute in Laguna?
I have come to the conclusion that the reason why Thailand, a country with 51-million hectares but with largely the same climatic conditions as the Philippines, had outshone all of its Southeast Asian neighbors in agricultural advancement is because they had a leader who profoundly understood the importance of Agriculture in nation building.
Thailand’s Agricultural Development was the foundation of the country’s economy, a strategy crafted by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, undoubtedly the most revered monarch of modern Thailand.
King Bhumibol preached what he called the “Philosophy of Sufficient Economy” which basically states that building a resilient and strong economy starts with ensuring that there is a sufficient supply of the basic needs of the Thais.
“Economic development must be done step by step. It should begin with the strengthening of our economic foundation, by assuring that the majority of our population has enough to live on. Once reasonable progress has been achieved, we should then embark on the next steps, by pursuing more advanced levels of economic development,” the Thai King repeatedly declared.
“Being a tiger is not important. The important thing is for us to have a sufficient economy. A sufficient economy means to have enough to support ourselves. We have to take a careful step backward, each village or district must be relative self-sufficient,” the late Monarch said.
I am sharing these thoughts because I believe that what our country needs now is a leader who deeply understands the Philosophy of Sufficient Economy to finally exorcise the prevailing mindset of most of our Economic Managers of targeting Inflation through importation rather than boosting local production.
Our country will never have a King revered by everybody whose word is Law and whose philosophy will be embraced by the nation.
Fortunately for us, however, the country now has a President, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who understands Agriculture and has the same mindset as King Bhumibol’s Philosophy of Sufficient Economy.
His decision to assume the Agriculture portfolio, to my mind, is one of his most important decisions which would be the hallmark of his Presidency.
Let President Marcos stay as Secretary of Agriculture until the end of his term.
All that he needs is a good back-up team and he made the right choice by picking former Secretary Domingo Panganiban, a veteran agriculturist who rose from the ranks and whose knowledge of Agriculture is institutional, as Senior Undersecretary.
President Marcos may not be physically present in all of his meetings and functions as Secretary but his shadow will loom large and influence the direction of Philippine Agriculture.
We may not have a Farmer King and President Marcos will never be the Farmer President but he could steer the country towards a Sufficient Economy by building the foundations of a strong Agriculture.
#LetsCountOurBlessings!
#NothingCanBePerfect!