Farmers hope Duterte will keep promises

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—On the eve of the feast of San Isidro,  the patron saint of farmers, a  group in Quezon province said that future celebrations would be more meaningful if presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte would fulfill his campaign promise to uplift their lives.

“Though we celebrate San Isidro’s fiesta with a Holy Mass and a gathering of relatives and friends, we still feel the troubling emptiness,” Maribel Luzara, leader of the farmers’ group, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bondoc Peninsula, told the Inquirer on Saturday.

She said like most Filipino farmers, they continued to struggle to own a piece of land to till through the government’s land reform program and for the return of the multibillion-peso coconut levy fund to the farmers.

“[Duterte] promised us that he will finish the land reform program and distribute vast lands to farmers. He also promised to return to us the coco levy fund. He promised to change our lives… [so we can have a] dignified existence,” Luzara said.

“We will be waiting for him to fulfill his promises. We want to truly celebrate the future feasts of San Isidro because we really have something concrete reasons to rejoice,” she said.

Farmers’ support

Jansepth Geronimo, spokesperson of the Kilusan para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo at Katarungang Panlipunan (Katarungan), said most farmers across the country supported Duterte’s candidacy.

“They voted for him, most of them even campaigned for him because they believed he could really change their lives if he became president,” Geronimo said.

Last month, Katarungan led 200 farmers from Quezon on an eight-day 122-kilometer protest march to Metro Manila to appeal to the Supreme Court to order the full implementation of the agrarian reform program in towns in the Bondoc Peninsula and to stop the revocation of land titles already given by the government to farmers in Sariaya town as part of land reform.

The marchers also appealed to the high court to return the coconut levy funds that they said were forcibly collected from farmers by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

In Lucban town, police have put in place all measures to secure the people attending today’s  “Pahiyas,” a festival honoring San Isidro.

Close to 200 policemen assisted by Army soldiers and volunteers will ensure the safety of the tourists, said Chief Insp. Reynaldo Kasilag, Lucban police chief.

Vehicles will be barred from entering the town from 6 a.m., except those with official passes.

Since Friday, residents along the procession route started adorning the front of their houses with farm produce, suman (rice cake) and kiping, the colorful rice wafer that has symbolized the local Maytime fiesta.