The reason people recommend rice is because most of us don't have 20-30 silica gel packs sitting in a drawer waiting for an act of stupidity. Nor can you buy 20-30 silica gel packs at any grocery store in the country.
On the other hand, rice is cheap, often on-hand, and if not on-hand, it's widely available, and it works equally well. The gel packs absorb more water for their weight, but really it doesn't matter as long as you have some patience. Anything that will absorb water out of the air will work. Heck, if you had enough croutons, they'd probably work. And then when you're done, you could have a salad.
It never ceases to amaze me, though, the people who automatically think, "my electronic device got wet. Now I've got a great idea: I'm going to turn it on and see if it still works! Putting electricity through wet circuits is a great idea!"
Best of luck with your phone. Most solid state electronics will still work if your response to a dunking is IMMEDIATELY removing the battery and drying the whole thing out.
Ovens at very low temperature with the cracked door open will work as well, and it'll go a lot faster than the rice, but it's also a lot more precise and you run a far greater risk of damaging your phone.