By ISABELA RIVERA Bulatlat.com MANILA — Regardless of whether the yield is good or not, Alipio Chico, 69, a farmer from Gapan, Nueva Ecija, must give a “buwisan” (payment) of 12 sacks of palay per hectare every harvest season to his landowner. “Whether you harvest enough or not, you are obliged to give it away…
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.”
“Farmers and consumers are demanding the strengthening of the rice industry as a solution to the perennial rice inflation, now nearing an all-time high rate that is expected to continue until July.”
“If Marcos Jr., as the president of the country and a former head of this department, didn’t resolve the agriculture and food crisis, now, he appointed an oligarch.”
“There is an urgency to reinstate NFA’s functions that were removed by the Rice Liberalization Law. Only then can the NFA have an influence on the local rice industry that is now dominated by the private sector. One of the priorities now is to be able to lower the price of rice and to make it affordable.”
Peasant groups said that the proposed budget for agriculture is insufficient and that this shows how improving the local food production is not important to the Marcos Jr. administration.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas called for the dropping of the charges filed against the Pili 4 and that they be released immediately. “Beyond this, the proposed Naga Airport Development Project must be reevaluated to ensure the preservation of prime rice fields in Pili.”
“The basic reality remains, there is still no genuine land reform. Without this, peasant landlessness can only worsen, and the domestic agriculture and economy will remain underdeveloped.”
Danilo Ramos of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said that the prevailing hunger and poverty among Filipino farmers are the “direct result of centuries-old landlessness.”
“It would lessen our cost surplus. We would also be able to guarantee the benefits of these cold storage facilities that it would bring to our farmers, especially here in Nueva Ecija who plant and harvest onions.”
“Marcos Jr. ‘s disbelief at the rising inflation rate shows his nonchalant attitude and extreme disconnect with the hardship experienced by Filipinos. His life of opulence is far from what ordinary hand-to-mouth Filipinos go through.”