The proposed ban on the unlimited rice promotions and the reasons why a ban

should be imposed

ABSTRACT

This paper will be composed of few number of parts that shall discuss different
topics in relation to the rice problems in the Philippines and other factors why such
suggestion is made. The first part shall discuss how Filipinos current rice consumption
affects the way the Filipinos live; it shall also discuss the impact of rice consumption to
demand and the supply of rice as well as the rice how Filipinos consume rice that
results to wastage of rice. In lieu of the free health care system for all Filipinos known as
Kalusugan Pangkalahatan (KP) that was passed through in the Legislative. Lastly a
discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of rice consumption in regards to
health shall also be made in this part.

1
TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Title ………………………………………………………….. . . 1

Table of Contents …………………………………………………………… . . 2

Introduction …………………………………………………………… . . 3

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ……………………………………………… 3

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION ……………………………………… 4

QUESTIONS ……………………………………… 4-5

I. Rice Consumption in the Philippines …………………………… 5

II. Filipinos addiction to unlimited rice promotions and it rise to society . 6
III. The Impact of all you can eat system in the society 6
A. Advantages of the unlimited rice promotions in the Philippines 7
B. Disadvantages of all you can eat promotion on people and the society 7
b-1. . Health Impacts of Consuming too much rice 7-8
b-2. The impact of too much rice consumption in the economy 8-9
and society 9-10
B-3. Possible solutions in the Philippine’s insufficient rice problem 10
B-4 The rice problem and the relation to food waste
IV. Trend of restaurants fining consumers for not finishing their meals 11
V. Efforts of the government to regulate food waste in the country 12-13

Conclusion 14

2
 Introduction

In 2017 a suggestion was made to ban the promotion of unlimited rice that set the
netizen on tweeting and reaction frenzy 1, it was able to turn the heads of almost
everyone and everyone had to voice out. A lot of the patrons of the said promotion were
making fun of the proposition and many were totally against it stating that it was anti-
poor and that may more laws should be passed before she can touch the matters of the
said gimmicks. On the other some had reasoned and believed that in the end it would
the Filipinos would benefits from that suggestion since it would promote better healthy
lifestyle among Filipinos and also some experts believe that it would help reduce food
waste and help the country become more self-sufficient, through disciplining the people.
In the end the said proposal didn’t became a bill or law.

Currently there is no law that penalizes ore regulates the eat all you can industry
other than the regulation of safety and cleanliness of the establishment, however there
are some establishments that impose that no leftover should left once you avail their
promotion. The establishment usually impose a fine or let the customer pay double if
one does not finish their meal. Some are ok with it because it teaches discipline but
some also see it as unfair since the customer had already paid for the meal and through
that the person can do whatever he or she wishes to the thing being paid for.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This paper aims to inform the people about of the advantages and disadvantages
regarding the proposed bill of banning unlimited rice in commercial food establishments.
Also this paper wishes to shed a new view or perspective in possible impact to the
society of such ban the possible benefits that one may get if such ban is implemented
since most of the general public had already perceived the suggestion to be negative
and was definitely against the proposed policy. Finally this paper would like to know if
the government may create or impose such ordinance that is presumed to be anti-poor
and the legality of the imposition of some establishment of penalty in failure to finish
meals in their premises when in an unlimited meal or rice promotion.

Patrons- this will benefit the patrons of the eat all you can industry for knowing
the possible impact of their frequent patriotism to the all you can eat promo. Open the
sense of awareness and responsibility towards other necessity. Also to know their rights

1
Villar: Keep calm, no 'unli-rice' ban (Jun 15 2017) Retrieved from https://news.abs-
cbn.com/news/06/15/17/villar-keep-calm-no-unli-rice-ban
3
in regards with the imposition of penalty since this suggestion was considered to be
anti-poor by some people and unjust.

General Public the study would let the public be aware about the different
advantages and disadvantages of eat all you can promotion and also open a sense of
responsibility on discipline especially with regards to food waste.

Any Legislation making body- it would be beneficial to those who make

policies to know the pulse of the people in regards with this topic and other more
important topic as stated by other netizens.

Tax payers- This study would affect taxpayers since the Bill for the free health
care insurance for all Filipinos has been passed and it states that all Filipinos shall have
access to free health care which the funds will come again from the tax payer’s pocket.
It only means if more people get sick just like what the studies claim hence the tax
payer will suffer more since funds for health care shall be needed.

People from the rice industry- there was an increase in the price of rice in
which the possible ban may affect the demand of rice in the market hence the people in
the rice industry may be affected if there shall be a possible decrease in the demand if
legislation for such ban shall be approved by the Congress.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

The scope of this study is simply to inform the people in shed of a new light the different
advantages and disadvantages of the imposition on a ban of the unlimited rice gimmicks
in the different establishment and to inform the people whether or not the
establishments that offer unlimited rice promotions have the right to impose penalty or
regulate the number of serving when they stipulate it is unlimited.

QUESTIONS

1. What are some of the possible disadvantages of allowing people to consume

unlimited rice? What are the possible impact on the health of the people of the
regularly patronizing the unlimited rice promotion?
2. Does the unlimited rice promotion have a secondary impact on the sustenance
and the environment? If so then what are those?

4
 3. Do people believe that the imposition of the establishments fair, since they are
the paying public? What are the possible benefits that the society can get from
this?
4. Do the people believe that placing such restriction changes the behavior of the
people and making them more discipline towards food waste?
5. Are there steps that are the government taking to reduce the number of food
wastage in the country? If so what are some of the precautionary measure taken
by the government to reduce such wastage?

I. Rice Consumption in the Philippines

It is known to everyone that the Philippines is a rice loving country in fact the
Philippines is one of the largest producers of rice and had a rice institute situated in
the country however the Philippines has also become one of the largest importer of
rice in the world. Clearly the country does not meet the demands of rice of its
people. For the past few years the Philippines had become more of a consumer
than a producer of rice which resulted to the importation and smuggling of rice
which had also increase in prices of commercial rice in which most Filipinos were
greatly affected. In 2018, the prices of rice and other commodity had greatly
increase and people claim that there is a rice shortage however the government
administration had claim that no shortage is happening and that the Philippines
have enough rice2. In the peak of the 2018 rice crisis Zamboanga City and Basilan
alone had experienced a tremendous increase in the prices of commercial rice
reached seventy pesos (₱70.00) a kilo and the NFA rice was considered scarce in
the local market, the government claim that it was due to the raids conducted by the
authorities and that there is a decrease in the smuggled rice going into inside these
cities and provinces. The increased caused the people to express their sentiments
and caused long lines on rice buying stations this not the first time that rice
importation and increase of rice had been happening almost yearly. Clearly given
the scenarios presented rice is really an important staple food for among Filipinos.
However despite the increase in prices according to report of the Philippine
Statistics Authority Filipinos had still been wasting after the release of the 2016
report of the Philippine Statistics Authority citing an average individual wastage of
around 335 grams from annual leftover3 As claimed by the Riceponsible campaign
director of the Department of Agriculture We can see the figures in grams per
person, but when combined, the daily rice wastage can feed more than 312,000

2
Romero, A. Duterte denies there is rice shortage in Philippines. Philippine Star
3
Pinoys urged to be more RICEponsible, August 3, 2017 retrieved from
http://www.philrice.gov.ph/pinoys-urged-riceponsible/
5
 mouths per day. That’s a population of an average-sized municipality 4,” Hence the
public is urged to not waste rice.

II. Filipinos addiction to unlimited rice promotions and it rise to society

The concepts of food establishing opening a buffet has been a long concept that is
being patronized by people but here in the Philippines the concept of unlimited rice
seems to be the one that click the most since it is found to be more common in fast
food chains and the numbers of the establishment offering such has steadily been
increasing. Government data indicate that the diet of Filipinos is still “rice-centric.”
According to the report, titled “Consumption of Selected Agricultural Commodities in
the Philippines,” Filipinos continue to eat rice in huge quantities. Published by the
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2017, the report noted that each Filipino
consumed an average of 109.87 kilograms of rice a year. Among all agricultural
products, only rice breached the 100-kg level; all other food items were apparently
being consumed in much smaller quantities. 5 It has been viewed that the unlimited
rice promotions are seen as simple luxuries since it allows one to fill their stomach
with their comfort food rice. Also in these immerging culture reasons why it clicked
in the Philippines are based on different theories. One is that people find it cheap
way to eat, another theory as long as there is viand then there should always be
rice accompanied with it and somehow millennials see it as way of competition who
shall eat the most number of rice. The suggestion made definitely made most of the
public upset though most nutritionist agree with the suggestion believing that it is
time that the Rice centric Filipino to look at their diet and create a new diet plan.
Clearly the media frenzy which the netizens had shown meant that the unlimited
rice culture had really been part of the Filipino culture.

III. The Impact of all you can eat system in the society
Buffets and unlimited rice promotions give the people the experience to eat and
experience different types of meals and consume meals in huge numbers without
breaking the bank. Due to this the numbers of establishments from the traditional
restaurant buffet setup to fast food chain now offer this promotion. Many are happy
with this setup but there are those who feel skeptical about it since many are those
who are due some people abusing these type of promotions also the said health
risk about this. In 2017 uproar in social media arose from the suggestion of Senator
Cynthia Villar about banning unlimited rice promotions as stated on one of the

4
Layaoen, M. Pinoys urged to be more RICEponsible August 3, 2017 retrieved from
http://www.philrice.gov.ph/pinoys-urged-riceponsible/
5
Unlimited Rice (2018, October 31) retrieved from
https://businessmirror.com.ph/unlimited-rice/
6
 senate hearing and head of the agricultural committee on the senate 6. After the
uproar she then clarify that she doesn’t want to ban unlimited rice in a statement “I
just voiced out my concern that eating too much rice is one of the main causes of
high blood sugar that leads to diabetes,” said Sen. Cynthia Villar, Senate agriculture
and food committee chair.7Currently there is no concrete law that bans the use or
regulates the consumers for patronizing or abusing these types of practice but the
there is a trend in the restaurant business that employs penalties in food wastage
on the use of the promotion.

A. Advantages of the unlimited rice promotions in the Philippines

Rice is known to be a good source of carbohydrates which is essential to
the day to day activities of the human body since it is also used for the
production of energy especially to those who have more on physical task.
It is considered cheap and hence available to masses. The promotion also
gives people the mentality of abundance which makes them the sense of
satisfaction and happiness without breaking the bank. The promotion had
also give establishments a new avenue to earn income. This also gives
the person the liberty to feel free on how to eat and what

B. Disadvantages of all you can eat promotion on people and the

society

B-1. Health Impacts of Consuming too much rice

Since the unlimited promotion entitle one to consume more in the same
price point the tendency is that consumers tend to consume more and that
the risk factors such as obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases arises
from the A study by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) show that
“people who ate the most rice—three to four servings a day—were 1.5 times
more likely to have diabetes than people who ate the least amount of rice.” 8
In a study in the British medical journal it was found out that the trends over
22 years of follow up showed that each daily serving of 5.6 ounces (about
cup) of cooked white rice is associated with an 11% higher risk of developing

6
ALVAREZ, KC. Cynthia Villar seeks ban on unli-rice promos for health, economic
reasons Retrieved from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/614474/cynthia-
villar-seeks-ban-on-unli-rice-promos-for-health-economic-reasons/story/
7
 Avendaño,C.(2017, June 16 ) Philippine Daily Inquirer
8
https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/09/29/17/many-adults-with-diabetes-delay-insulin-
therapy
7
 diabetes. People who ate the most white rice saw a 27% boost in risk, 9 which
definitely qualifies the Filipinos in this risk since rice as a staple commodity.

A Harvard study had reviewed four earlier studies involving more than
352,000 people from China, Japan, the United States, and Australia who
were tracked between four and 22 years. This study had compare the Asian
diet which involves mostly of rice and the western diet when rice is not a The
researchers found that people who ate the most rice—three to four servings
a day—were 1.5 times more likely to have diabetes than people who ate the
least amount of rice. In addition, for every additional large bowl of white rice a
person ate each day, the risk rose 10 percent. The link was stronger for
people in Asian countries, who eat an average of three to four servings of
white rice per day. People in Western countries eat, on average, one to two
servings a week.10

Dr Cecilia Acuin of the Department of Science and Technology-Food and

Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) advised against unlimited rice as it
does not promote a healthy lifestyle.

“Unlimited rice is not healthy,” she said at the launch of the 8 th National
Nutrition Survey results on June 26. “You can already tell that when you're
getting most from one food group, you do not have a good diet.”

Any food that belongs to the same food group also has the same nutritional
value. This means that your body might miss out on more important nutrients
if you eat the same thing every meal.

“It's not the quantity that matters, but also the quality and diversity,” she
said11

A diverse diet, according to Acuin, is consuming food from different groups,

not having the same type of meal in a time period or over-consuming.

9
Daily "dose" of white rice linked to diabetes (June, 2012) retrieved from
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/daily-dose-of-white-rice-linked-
to-diabetes
10
Hu, E. et al. Eating white rice regularly may raise type 2 diabetes risk. British Medical
Journal. March 15, 2012.
11
Galivan, J. The problem with unlimited rice retrieved from
https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/hunger/61830-problem-unlimited-rice-diverse-
diet

8
 As each food group boasts of a unique micronutrient, consequences due to
lack of vitamins and minerals can be prevented. This is called hidden hunger
and it affects close to 2 billion people worldwide.

Along with diabetes there are multiple complications that will such as
cardiovascular disease, obesity, The most common long-term diabetes-related
health problems are: damage to the large blood vessels of the heart, brain and
legs (macrovascular complications) damage to the small blood vessels,
causing problems in the eyes, kidneys, feet and nerves (microvascular
complications).12 Along with the passing of law which gives free health care
system in the Philippines in the long run such effects then the tax payer is
liable to the possible treatment of the possible patients; hence the more
people diagnosed the more money will be shelled out by the taxpayer.

B-2. The impact of too much rice consumption in the economy and
society

As stated the Philippines had been one of the largest producers of rice
however the Philippines had also become one of the major consumers and
importers of rice since the supply of rice has no longer meets the amount of
demand in the country. These imbalances in the supply and demand cause
the price of rice to increase in local markets and groceries. Some people also
resort to the smuggling of rice in the different parts of the region. For the
longest the Philippines has now aimed to be a rice sufficient country however
due to the shrinkage of the land used for farming and other factors the
country it still not attainable. The Duterte administration to revert the
Philippines back as a rice sufficient country however due to the increase one
of the biggest factor is that the farmers can’t keep up with the rising
population with little income and poor faming laws it is not considered
attainable.

Dr Flordeliza Bordey, the program leader for Impact Assessment Policy

Research and Advocacy of Philippine Rice Research Institute, said that every
Filipino is wasting 14 grams of milled rice per day, which is equivalent to
about 3 tablespoons per person per day. With this estimate this year, if there
are 100 million Filipinos wasting rice, then we are wasting about 510,000
metric tons of rice, an amount, which according to our competition, can

Diabetes - long-term effects Retrieved from

12

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/diabetes-long-term-
effects
9
 already feed about 4.2 million people for the whole year. 13 Meaning the bad
habits of the Filipino consumption adds more reasons why the government
has to import rice and cause the government and taxpayers more money for
the payment of such importation. If the an ordinary man could learn to act
more responsible hence the government would be able to save more money
and thus importation and debts will no longer add up. According to the
International Rice Research Institute, the Philippines waste more than
300,000 tons of rice annually. This translates to a cost of more than P20
million a day, or about P8 billion annually. Imagine how much money and
how many people can be fed if we all acted responsibly.

Another factor to consider is that Filipinos also have an “unlimited” rice

culture, even as food outlets usually refuse to serve half or quarter servings
of rice. These practices lead to a lot of wastage 14. Considering that people
have different capabilities in consuming food a lot of food goes into waste.

B-3. Possible solutions in the Philippine’s insufficient rice problem

There are a lot of suggestions on how to address the Philippines rice

problem of the Philippines such as better laws on farming and giving proper
compensation to farmers so that farmer won’t be discourage to plant more
rice. In this research the discussion on rice consumption shall be further
discussed. One of the solutions found that Filipinos should be disciplined in
the way they eat. In order to meet the demands with the supply, one of the
possible solutions is to “change diet by shifting from rice as staple food to
other food stuffs like noodles, sweet potato, corn or other foodstuffs as
substitute to the sole rice as main meal. What is needed is to practice feeding
on other alternatives of rice. Kids and youths of today must be trained in such
a way not to fully depend on rice, instead to plant some vegetables and other
crops which could be beneficial to every member in the family. Produce
which could supply sufficient nutrition or vitamins to everyone. At same time,
educate consumers on the advantages of consuming less amount of rice to
the physical condition or one’s health (eat more fruits and vegetables than

13
 Apun, MRF, et al The problem with rice Retrieved from
https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/hunger/commentaries/73333-problem-rice-
shortage-philippines
14
Conteras, A. ( 2017, April 20) ‘Unli-rice’ and our state of mind: Beyond the rice importation
controversy Retrieved from https://www.manilatimes.net/unli-rice-state-mind-beyond-rice-
importation-controversy/323077/
10
 rice).”15 In this case everyone is able to contribute a solution to the problem
and not only add burden and more blame to the government.

B-4 The rice problem and the relation to food waste

“The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) define food
loss as the decrease in the amount or nutritional quality of food that was
intended for human consumption. FAO says that more than 40% of food loss
in developing countries such as the Philippines happens before consumption
—during production, postharvest, and processing. The International Rice
Research Institute (IRRI) reports that rice losses reach around 15% in the
postharvest stage. In addition, an estimated 296,869 metric tons of rice,
equivalent to P7.3 billion, is wasted in the country according to the Philippine
Rice Research Institute (PRRI). The discarded amount could have fed more
than 2 million Filipinos. The food waste reduction hierarchy set by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) shows, through an
inverted triangular diagram, the most preferred to the least preferred actions
that can be done with food waste. Topmost is source reduction, followed by
donation to the hungry, diversion to animal feed, recovering energy, creating
compost, and at the bottom is disposal of food in landfills.” 16

IV. Trend of restaurants fining consumers for not finishing their meals

In other countries the trend of penalizing unfinished meal in local restaurants like
in the United Kingdom in 2012 a Chinese restaurant in the northeast of England, is
now charging customers £20 ($32) for food wastage costs if diners leave food on
their plates17. Similarly a restaurant in Damam Saudi Arabia had also followed the
policy there are many clients who make large orders in order to impress the people
around them and boost their social prestige," owner said. The policy was aimed at
reducing food wastage and extravagance, with the fine being calculated according to
the quantity of the leftovers.18 Here the Philippines one of the infamously known
buffet chain also offers this penalty Vikings. Vikings “no leftover” policy by reminding

15
TIBAO, N. Why Does the Philippines Import Rice: A Solution to the Rice Shortage,
National Chung Hsing University.
16
Gustavsson,J et al, Global food losses and food waste, Düsseldorf, Germany
17
Eugenios, J.(2012, October 14) Leaving food uneaten may cost you at some
restaurants retrieved from https://www.today.com/food/leaving-food-uneaten-may-cost-
you-some-restaurants-778509
18
Toumi, H. (2011, September 14) Saudi restaurant fines diners for leftovers
https://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-restaurant-fines-diners-for-
leftovers-1.866759
11
 the customers that for 100 grams of leftovers, they will be charged an additional
P100.19  Locally in Zamboanga the one that offers the same policy is the unlimited
snacks promotion is of KCC Mall and a fast food chain named Penong’s also follows
the policy on their unlimited rice promotion. With this a lot of people questions the
validity and are questioning the legality of this practice.

V. Efforts of the government to regulate food waste in the country

As stated in part C there is no actual laws which regulates food waste in
the country or penalize people in the Philippines except that of handling food
waste; Though there few proposed bills and suggestions that never had made
into a law.

Senate Bill 357 propose by senator Bam Aquino which is known as Zero
Food Waste Act the Philippines being a signatory and state member of the
United Nations “Around one third of the food produced globally, equivalent to
1.3 billion tons or worth US$1 trillion (around P46 trillion), is wasted annually
according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). There are
both economic and environmental costs to this wastage. The forests and
biodiversity cleared to create farmlands, along with the soils, energy, water,
fertilizer, and labor utilized to produce food that is never eaten are also put to
waste. A total of 28% of the global agricultural region is used to produce food
that will eventually go to waste, according to the World Resources Institute.
Furthermore, most of the greenhouse gas emissions are generated by food
disposed of in landfills. With around 1 in 4 calories yielded remaining
unconsumed, and a population of around 870 million without equitable access
to food resources daily, this absurd disjuncture deems moral implications to this
profound amount of discarded food. As stated in the first part of the paper
currently there is not concrete law that regulates food waste though there are
laws which regulate food waste but there are laws on how to regulate the solid
waste management.”20

Senate Bill 1863 filed by former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
in 2013. It sought to penalize not unli-rice promos, but the practice among
restaurants of refusing to serve less than a cup of rice, and proposed to fine

19
Hidalgo, V. Vikings emerges in the competitive buffet shores (2012, September 22
Retrieved from http://business.inquirer.net/83394/vikings-emerges-in-the-
competitive-buffet-shores#ixzz5QAFCp191
20
Aquino, B. Senate Bill 357 “ an act providing a distributing and recycling food waste to
promote food security
12
 these establishments up to P100,000. To keen observers of Filipino habit, the
wastage happens with those who order more rice than they are able to
consume, not with those who are willing to pay for an extra serving.
“Some Filipinos may be having hard time sticking to a "low-carb" diet
because some restaurants don’t serve half-a-cup of rice. But a bill filed at the
Senate may just be the solution to such a situation.
 
Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has filed Senate Bill 1863, or
the "Anti-Rice Wastage Act of 2013," seeking to impose fines on establishments
that refuse to serve half-cup rice orders.
 
The goal is to lessen rice wastage, the grain being the Filipino's staple
food, Marcos noted in a statement Sunday.”21

As stated above the people have different capacity of appetite and meals
hence there is a need to actually allow people to have the half cup or quarter
cup but the problem to this is that people are also not willing to pay the same
amount hence the law is not passed.

And finally another efforts for the law is the controversial suggestion made by
Senator Cynthia Villar which also is not approved or not even filed since there is
a mass disapproval made by the people through social media stating that the
suggestion was anti- poor and unfair since no all can afford to eat all viands like
the wealthy senator. People had also connoted that people are more laws are
more important and there are more problems that are yet to be solve.

Conclusion

The state having the duty to protect the people and the people having the
obligation to obey the state should consider first the proposal made by its legislation

21
Senate bill seeks to punish restaurants not serving half-a-cup rice (2013, October 28)
Retrieved from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/332826/senate-bill-
seeks-to-punish-restaurants-not-serving-half-a-cup-rice/story/

13
before rejecting or making such comments. One should make a valid research and
understand the first intent of the probable suggestions and legislation. Though it seems
ordinary however it seems that such acts are connected and contain big impact in
society. As a normal individual one must really see the two sides of the coin and have
an open mind before making such subject of such suggestion. Like in this case though
the it might seem a small problem however it is now known the rice supply also
determines the prices of commodities. Also we have to look on the long term effects that
may affect us in the near future.

14