Martial law victims help poor farmers

Organic rice is grown in terraced plots in a farm run by the Negros Nine Human Development Foundation in Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental province. —JEIN PABALINAS / Contributor

BACOLOD CITY—A foundation named after nine people, including a Columban priest, who were jailed during the twilight years of the Marcos dictatorship, has expanded its advocacy to promote healthy living.

The Negros Nine Human Development Foundation Inc. (NNHDFI) has established a cooperative of more than 200 member-families practicing organic farming in the hinterlands of Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental province.

Their produce included “batuan” (Garcinia morella), “camote” (sweet potatoes), jack fruit, coconut, mung bean, banana, papaya, turmeric, pepper and chayote, as well as “sinamak” (vinegar loaded with peppers, ginger and garlic) and handwoven scarves and shawls.

“We are organic agriculture missionaries for life,” said Fr. Brian Gore, a Columban priest who chairs the foundation.

Wrongly accused

Gore, along with two priests and six lay leaders, was imprisoned during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos after they were wrongly accused of killing a municipal mayor and his companions on March 10, 1982. They were charged with multiple murder charges and released 14 months later.

As the case was turning out to be a global embarrassment for the Marcos regime, the court ordered the release of the nine on July 3, 1984, citing lack of evidence.

Four have since died—Fr. Niall O’Brien in 2004, Fr. Vicente Dangan in 1998, Conrado Muhal in 1990, and Geronimo Perez in 2012. Gore and lay leaders Lydio Mangao, Jesus Arzaga, Ernesto Tajones and Peter Cuales continue their work for the poor.

Tajones works as an electric meter reader and a volunteer of Bukidnon Diocesan Social Action Center in Bukidnon province. Cuales is project officer of Ilog Kinder Home Foundation Inc.

Training farmers

Gore, Mangao and Arzaga put up NNHDFI in 2000 to pursue their human development work and in memory of all those who suffered and died in the course of justice.

Among the foundation’s projects for livelihood programs and environment protection in southern Negros is the training of farmers in organic farming in its 12-hectare property in the hinterland village of Tanawan, 20 kilometers from Kabankalan City proper. The farmers accepted the idea of organic farming since they could no longer afford to buy chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

But it took some time to develop the soil to make it sustainable. “Chemicals over time make weeds resistant and the soil dies out,” Gore said. “Organic farming looks after the soil and the plants are able to take care of themselves.”

Farmers sell their produce through their cooperative to make a profit, taking in orders from buyers so it was not difficult to sell. They also join agri-festivals, like the one held on Nov. 15, as a marketing
strategy.

Breaking even

They are happy to just break even because their aim is to spread the word that organic crops are readily available.

“We have to educate people on the benefits of organic food. If you are constantly eating food that has insecticides, herbicides and growth hormones, it’s not good for the body—you will be paying for it later in doctors’ bills and medicines,” Gore said.

One of the biggest problems of the farmers is the lack of roads from their communities to Barangay Oringao, 6 km away from the town center. Farmers pay P150 for the use of a “habal-habal,” motorcycle modified to seat more than two persons, to bring their produce.

They need just basic roads, which need not even be made of concrete, Gore said.