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“This chronic rice crisis is an insult to the Filipino people. As an agricultural nation, it is unacceptable that the basic staple of rice has become a symbol of food insecurity and exploitation."
Martial law survivors fear that the appointment of Geraldine Faith Econg could reverse hard-won gains in the anti-martial law struggle.
For Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, the maximum suggested retail price is just a band-aid solution and does not address the root cause of the continued rise in rice and food prices—the lack of support for local farmers, neoliberal agricultural policies, and the importation of cheap rice that undermines local production, as well as the absence of genuine rural industrialization.
PDG, at its core, has spent decades advocating for agrarian reform, sustainable agriculture, and the rights of small farmers and fisherfolk in Southern Negros. Genol told Bulatlat that PDG was founded in 1987 in response to the Negros famine.
Rolan Cagas, who also sits as president of the Claveria Federation of Rice Farmers Associations, shared that their top concern was the rising prices of farm inputs, especially fertilizers, as it would now cost over P1,800 per sack, higher than the less-than-P1,000 price in the past years.
“[Secretary] Estrella, we are pleading to you. Please have mercy on us. The attacks against us have gone too far and our human rights are being violated. We can no longer go to school because of what San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is doing to us. Many young people among us still want to study, but I am one of those who had to stop because we can no longer live in peace there," Rustene Pelayo Leoncio said in Filipino.
Residents said that in 2023, SMC initially presented a “resettlement program" for Mariahangin families, offering money amounting to P75,000 with land or P100,000 if without land. Recently, the offer has increased to P400,000 per family to urge them to vacate their ancestral lands.
In 2023, DAR revoked the NOC of the 10,821 hectares of land of the indigenous peoples in Bugsuk, Palawan which was initially issued in 2014. Residents said that this decision by DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III prompted escalated harassment and intimidation in their community in Sitio Mariahangin.
Rural women condemned the Department of Agrarian Reform's complicity in massive land-grabbing by the Villars, Aranetas, Cojuangcos, Ayalas, and foreign investors.
In a press conference, Sept. 24, resident Tarhata Pelayo said that drones are being used by armed men who are known in their community to be affiliated with SMC to watch them every night.
When confronted by KASAMA-LR officials, the police and military eventually admitted that they plan on establishing a “permanent camp” within Lupang Ramos.
In his speech, Ramos criticized the prevalence of political dynasties in the Philippines. He emphasized the need for a representative who understands the plight of farmers and fishermen, noting that they make up 70 to 75 percent of the population.
“The soldiers have undertaken a psywar campaign for fake surrenders. They utilise intimidation, threats, and coercion in house-to-house interrogations and summons, explicitly red-tagging KMP and the mere act of participating in protests,” KMP said in a statement.
Karapatan said that two-thirds or 59 out of the 87 victims of extrajudicial killings under the Marcos Jr. regime are farmers. Most of them were either red-tagged prior to their killing or were accused of being armed combatants in “false encounters.”
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas noted that the food inflation alone has accelerated from 6.1 percent to 6.5 percent, calling the slight overall decrease as “negligible.”
A farmers organization is concerned about the government’s plan of selling “aging but good rice” in Kadiwa stores starting next month, saying it would not offer long-term solutions to the increasing price of rice and other essentials.
On World Environment Day, land rights advocates revisit the government’s role in supporting a farmers’ seed system to boost the country’s agricultural industry.
Tensions in the peasant community of Lupang Tartaria flared up starting April 16 when armed security forces from Jarton Security Agency, Inc. began threatening to erect a barricade around the vicinity. In response, the farmers erected their own fence and set up a protest camp.
Since disasters always include human components, there is nothing natural about it. Therefore, there is no such thing as a “natural” disaster; there was a human failure somewhere in how social, economic, and political systems were set up.
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