Farmers won’t lift road blockade in Koronadal

KORONADAL CITY—About 500 drought-affected farmers on Monday blocked portions of the highway linking Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato provinces to General Santos City to dramatize their demand for rice subsidy from the government.

They, however, failed to freeze vehicle flow when they took over the four-lane highway in Barangay Carpenter Hills because authorities rerouted traffic and opened an alternate route in Barangay San Roque.

“Our farmers are producing rice, now they are begging for it as a result of the long dry spell,” Domingo Azures, a leader of the party-list group Anakpawis here, told reporters. “Life back home is really difficult.”

Farmers started occupying a section of the national highway on Friday. Azures said the group would continue the protest until the Department of Agriculture (DA) listens to and grants their demand.

“Give us rice and we will go home,” the protesters chanted as they sat on the pavement. “We only ask for rice, don’t give us bullets.”

Supt. Barney Condes, city police chief, said police were exercising “maximum tolerance” and have not dispersed the farmers.

South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Fuentes has appealed to the protesters to make sure that their activities would remain peaceful, although she lamented the inconvenience the activity was causing because they were hampering traffic flow.

“The province welcomes any democratic actions but we asked the organizers to avoid barricading the highway, throw stones or stage violent attacks on government agencies [within the capitol grounds],” Fuentes said.

Ryan Lariba, spokesperson of the party-list group Bayan Muna in Central Mindanao, said the group wanted the DA to deliver 60,000 bags of rice to drought-hit communities in South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces.

“Our immediate appeal is for the release of the food aid. There’s no clear response to our appeal. People are hungry,” he said.

Aside from providing rice, Lariba said his group wanted the government to help farmers in drought-affected areas in the next cropping season.

Mayor Peter Miguel Jr., who talked to the protesters on Sunday, said he would bring their demand to the attention of the national government.

Like Condes, Miguel said the farmers would not be dispersed to prevent violence from breaking out, similar to what happened during a road blockade staged by farmers in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato, on April 1. Two persons were killed and at least 300 others, including policemen, were hurt in that dispersal.

Miguel said they also provided medicines and sent doctors to check on the health condition of protesters.

He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development has offered 25 kilograms of rice to each of the protesters but this had been turned down as they wanted more.

Amalia Datukan, the DA regional director for Central Mindanao, said their mandate was to provide resources that can be used for farm production but they have no funds for rice subsidy.

Farm inputs, she said, could be immediately released to farmers once their identities had been validated.

In Southern Mindanao, the DA said it had spent P40 million on El Niño-mitigating measures such as water pumps and water containment materials; certified rice and corn seeds; and planting stocks for other crops.

Joedel Leliza, DA disaster risk reduction and management officer for the Davao region, said the agency also implemented cash-for-work program in drought-hit communities, such as cleaning of irrigation ditches.

He said farmers lost at least 9,317 metric tons in potential rice harvest and 19,253 MT in expected corn harvest.