Dog Rice

A while back I bought some "Dog Rice" for my dogs.

I bought it because it was cheap. But that may not have been the best idea. I mix the rice with squash and pour dog food on top of it and the dogs eat it up but perhaps "dog rice" is not so hygienic. In fact, dog rice is being sold to the poor because regular rice prices have increased substantialy.

https://www-gmanetwork-com.translate.goog/news/balitambayan/talakayan/883956/bigas-na-para-pagkain-ng-aso-na-p30-k-binibili-na-rin-ng-mga-hikahos/story/?_x_tr_sl=tl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true

Due to the hardships of life and the expensive price of rice, the poor are now forced to pay for the rice that is sold at P30 per kilo with "dog food" written on it.

In Darlene Cay's special report, she met 53-year-old Mylene Canoy in Catmon, Malabon, who makes a living from charcoal.

According to Canoy, their income as a couple is not enough to feed their children, and they also have a grandchild.

In fact, even if he earns P50 a day, it is still not enough to buy a kilo of good quality rice. Sometimes, there are days when they don't eat three times a day.

To fill his stomach, he buys the cheapest rice he can find. Similar to Melba Sacayanan's store, which is P30 per kilo but considered dog food or food for animals.

Based on the records of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the year 2013 was the last time the price of regular milled rice reached P30 per. Today, the good variety of rice reaches P50 per kilo and above.

That is why the government issued an order last month to put a price ceiling of P41 per kilo for regular-milled rice and P45 per kilo for well-milled rice.

Compared to regular rice, the P30 per kilo "dog food" rice grain has a dark and yellowish color. Its grain is also crushed and there are also small black things that look like stones mixed in.

But for people like Canoy who have little income now, rice that is considered for animals can be theirs.

After Canoy bought cheap rice for a kilo and a half, he had nothing left to buy a dish. That's why he just borrowed a few pieces of tilapia.

According to Canoy, he washes the rice four times to get rid of the "smell."

As for senior citizen Lolita Mabborang who only relies on P5,000 pension per month, it is also difficult to find cheap rice for her husband and wife.

"The P41 [per kilo] is like us who can't buy a delicious dish, you can't even eat the color [that] because it's brown. The P45 [per kilo] is crushed," he commented.

"It's like the poor are poorer because you can't even eat what you buy, especially if you don't buy a delicious dish," he added.

According to Sacayanan who sells "dog food" rice, each kilo used to cost P33. It used to be that people only bought it for animals.

But now, it is hard for him to call such rice for dogs or for animals because it is insulting to people that they can only buy that.

As for Cathy Estavillo, spokesperson of Bantay Rice, it is said that it is sad that poor consumers are forced to buy this type of rice because the price of the good type of rice is already very high.

He said, the sold rice that is considered for animal use is rice that is old stock or flooded. The appearance is no longer pleasant, there are stones, and even insect excrement which is said to be proof that it is not for human consumption.

Aside from the steps taken by the government to lower the price of rice in the country, the Department of Agriculture will also investigate the rice that is sold as animal feed.

Canoy said the rice he bought smelled bad but I did not not notice a peculiar smell. However I did have to wash it several times to get rid of the chaff, stones, and other questionable particles which I hope were not insect excrement. When cooked it looked this:

It certainly does not look tempting or delicious. You can see it is peppered with black specks despite having been washed several times. The dogs had no issues with this rice. No one got sick or had irregular bowel movements. However I do not believe I will be buying this rice again. 

But it's not just "dog rice" which Filipinos are buying for their dogs or themselves. NFA rice is also being bought for dogs. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/03/07/1899398/nfa-slams-neda-exec-over-rice-dogs-quip

The National Food Authority has expressed disgust over the comment of a ranking official from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) that NFA rice is for dogs.

In a radio interview, NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon had said some people buy the cheap NFA rice for their dogs, saying that there is a “quality difference” and that some people buy NFA rice for other uses.

NFA officer-in-charge administrator Tomas Escarez said such remarks, coming from a ranking government official, is a slap to the more than 10 million poor Filipinos who have relied on the low-priced NFA rice for their daily meals.

“This is the highest form of arrogance, callousness and being matapobre,” Escarez said.

He added that the remark is also an insult to the more than 4,000 NFA employees nationwide who have been delivering the staple to marginalized consumers in far-flung areas, isolated island provinces and poor urban areas.

The video of Edillon’s remarks also gathered negative reactions from netizens, including NFA employees, retailers and ordinary citizens.

One netizen said Edillon was being insensitive and unprofessional, emphasizing that such comment should not even come from a public servant.

“We, retailers of NFA rice, do not sell food for dogs. There are about 200 to 500 people lining up every day for the cheap rice, do you call all of them dogs?” an NFA retailer said.

The backlash from NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon's comments are totally unwarranted. She did not call poor people dogs. She simply noted that some people are buying NFA rice to feed their dogs and for other uses. It is neither callous nor arrogant to point out this fact because it is true.

A few months after this remark was made someone on Reddit admitted that they feed their dogs NFA rice. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/phmoneysaving

• corn grits, mix it with NFA rice and dog food

So, while NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon was called out for being insensitive this person was feeding her dog NFA rice. And she is most certainly not alone.

In 2008 the NFA advised people to not buy NFA rice for their dogs, chickens, and other pets.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/99768/nfa-to-pet-owners-don-t-use-rice-as-pet-food/story/

The National Food Authority in Aklan has appealed to pet owners in the province not to use NFA rice as feed to their pets, the Philippine Information Agency reported Friday. "One of the (saving) tips suggested by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the NFA in the brochure for our Rice Conservation Program is for people to refrain from using rice or palay to feed their chickens, birds, and other pets", PIA quoted Judith Tindog of NFA-Aklan Information as saying. According to the PIA report, Tindog recently learned that a woman wanted to buy NFA rice for her pet dog. She told PIA: "I appealed to the pet owner to buy dog food instead. The NFA rice sold here in the province is for our poor provincemates who are experiencing hardships due to the price increase in commercial rice and other daily commodities, coupled with expenses due to the opening of classes." Tindog said the NFA-Aklan is only selling rice by the kilos and not by bags at 5 kilos per person at P18.25 per kilo. Malacanang has also appealed to the rich not to take advantage of NFA rice.

The fact is everyone is looking for ways to save money. One of the ways to save money is to buy cheap rice especially for your pets. But if you are going to feed your animals cheap rice I would not recommend buying "dog rice." Just buy cheap regular rice.