Iloilo, Capiz farmers protest pork, demand farm funds

ILOILO CITY—Decrying wanton greed amid grinding poverty and a crisis in the rice industry, hundreds of farmers in Iloilo and Capiz joined protest actions on Wednesday demanding the abolition of all forms of pork barrel and use of funds for agriculture and support for farmers.

In Iloilo City, at least 400 protesters marched from Bonifacio Drive to the main streets where mini programs were held in stopovers.

The farmers traveled from the towns of Tubungan, Leon, Janiuay, Maasin and Dumanggas to protest the dismal conditions of tillers.

“We are suffering from high prices of farm inputs and low price of our produce while a few corrupt officials and their cohorts are enjoying billions of pesos in stolen public funds,” said Cris Chavez, secretary general of the Association of Farmers in Panay and Guimaras.

Chavez said production of rice, the country’s staple food, continues to decline because most farmers do not have their own land to till, lack government support and services, and are saddled with amortization debts.

In Roxas City in Capiz, at least 150 protesters, mostly farmers and fishermen led by the Kahublagan sang Mangunguma sa Capiz (Kamaca) and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan marched on main streets of the city before holding a picket in front of City Hall.

They also demanded the abolition of pork barrel and the prosecution of those involved in irregularities in the use of the funds.

In Congress, a partylist group representing the agriculture sector made a pitch for a bill that would provide “long-term government spending on the agriculture sector to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Rep. Delphine Gan Lee (Agri or Agra Reporma Para sa Magsasaka ng Pilipinas) said aside from implementing the Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP), the government must work on “programs that provide farmers and fishermen access to microcredit facilities.”

“Subsistence farmers are often without any access to additional funding. They fall prey to loan sharks,” said Gan Lee in the statement.

Explaining her bill, the “Agriculture Micro-Credit Act of 2013,” Gan Lee said that the government is “better off investing its financial resources in microcredit if it wants to reduce poverty in rural areas and ensure higher productivity.”

“Microcredit is regarded as an innovative financial intermediation scheme aimed at reducing poverty especially in the rural areas,” she said.

Gan Lee’s bill seeks to extend microcredit services to farmers and fishermen through the Land Bank of the Philippines and other facilities.

The bill seeks an initial funding of P25 billion for microcredit for farmers nationwide. These small loans, she said, could be used to buy work animals, farm equipment, seeds, fertilizers and other farm implements.

“The FSSP already provides the direction our country should be taking in terms of food security,” said Gan Lee.

Initial estimates pegged damages caused by Typhoon “Santi” at P2.9 billion on rice production. The figures add to a 1.4 million metric ton shortfall in rice production projected by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) in September.

Both the Neda and the FSSP recommend importation to be the “primary role of the private sector,” with government funds better allocated for irrigation to improve rice production, lower prices and increase farm incomes.

In April 2013 alone, the government spent more than P4 billion to import 205,700 MT of rice from Vietnam.