Farmers from Eastern Visayas today aired their dismay over the Duterte government and the National Food Authority’s (NFA) move to import 250,000 metric tons of rice from Thailand, Laos and Vietnam in order to resolve the shortage of NFA rice stock in government warehouses and domestic markets.
In a statement distributed to the media, the Samahan han Gudti nga Parag-uma han Sinirangan Bisayas (SAGUPA-SB) and the Northern Samar Small Farmers Association (NSSFA) considered the importation as an “intentional assault against hardworking peasants” especially that the harvest season is fast approaching and the selling price will drop if they are to compete with imported rice.
The farmers groups also said that the 250,000 metric tons that will be imported is already on top of the 350,000 metric tons as part of the Maximum Accessible Volume already set for distribution which “will make locally produced rice uncompetitive in the long run”.
Instead of importing rice, SAGUPA-SB and NSSFA urged the Duterte administration to directly provide agricultural aide to small farmers in order to boost rice production and increase the selling price of locally harvested rice.
“It is ironic for the NFA to favour the profit margins of commercial traders over the welfare of consumers who bare the brunt of soaring rice prices when it is its official mandate to make rice at the cheapest possible cost available to the market,” said Bayan Eastern Visayas secretary-general Joshua Sagdullas.
Gina Rosco, member of NSSFA and a farmer from Las Navas in Northern Samar added that the “government has repeatedly denied us of agricultural aid, which has jeopardized local productivity in our rice fields, leaving us to sell what little yield we have”.
“Now, the NFA announces a national rice shortage as a pretext for the artificial increase in commercial rice costs. How much longer do we have to be robbed of our food and livelihood?” she asked.
Las Navas is considered one of Eastern Visayas’ top-performing rice granaries recently devastated by tropical storm Urduja.
State of famine and calamity
Meanwhile, local peasants of Eastern Visayas belied the government’s claim that the remaining rice stock would prioritize calamity-hit areas because instead of freely distributing the rice, the NFA has auctioned it off to commercial traders who sell it to local markets at a much higher cost.
The farmers groups see the Palace’s move as a way to “to appease rice farmers who will be burdened with the sudden influx in foreign rice.”
SAGUPA-SB and NSSFA also cited that Eastern Visayas is approaching a “state of famine” with rice production “at an all time-low” after having gone through four successive tropical storms in the last two months.
Considered as one of the country’s top rice granaries, the region is experiencing a 5-year 90-percent slump in rice production since 2013.
Of the six provinces in Eastern Visayas, Northern Samar is the poorest, with a poverty incidence of 61.6 percent. This means that six out of every 10 people in the province are poor.
Northern Samar is the fourth poorest province in the country, next to Lanao del Sur (74.3 percent), Sulu (65.7 percent), and Sarangani (61.7 percent).
“Stand with Samar” campaign commenced
The peasant groups announced that several farmers from six provinces of Eastern Visayas have already started a ‘Lakbayan’ going to Metro Manila as a way of challenging President Duterte to address the plight of disaster-hit farmers in their region and to end intensifying militarization against their ranks.
According to Sagdullas, the activity dubbed as “Stand with Samar” aims to raise public awareness about the plight of farmers in the province who have not yet recovered from the devastating effects of successive typhoons that struck Eastern Visayas such as Yolanda, Glenda, Ruby, Seniang, Nona, and the recent Urduja and Vinta.
Peasant leaders of the NSSFA will be in Manila from February 22 to March 8 to appeal to national government agencies, hold dialogues, and conduct protest actions.
According to KMP regional chapter SAGUPA-Sinirangan Bisayas leader Jun Berino, farmers received very minimal aid from the government but in most cases, they have not received any support at all.
“It’s like the national government has neglected and forgotten us. We exist. Northern Samar is a province of the Philippines and our people are the poorest. Years of rehabilitation efforts are not felt by poor farmers,” Berino said.
The farmers are launching the Stand with Samar campaign to demand the government the following:
- Provide immediate financial relief to all families with damaged crops.
- Craft and implement a pro-people agricultural rehabilitation program.
- Junk the anti-people Typhoon Recovery Plan. Scrap the existing Nona Rehabilitation Plan that is anti-people and pro-big businesses and craft a new program that is anchored on pro-people objectives and policies. Create such plan in consultation, coordination, and partnership with the farmers.
- End militarization.
“The farmers of Northern Samar stand united in demanding from the government what is due to them: assistance and most importantly, respect for their basic human rights. The situation in Samar provinces require tangible and decisive actions from the government. Likewise, public support and solidarity is also needed,” KMP chairperson, Danilo Ramos stated.
