Hundreds of farmers, support groups and other peasant organizations arrive at the main offices of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Quezon City in this file photo.
DAYS before President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA), a group of farmers gave him a failing grade for allegedly causing the deaths of their families.
Yesterday, the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) group initiated a protest against the SONA by forming a human chain in front of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Quezon City. “Marcos is starving farmer families,” said Cathy Estavillo, spokesperson for Bantay Bigas, because instead of protecting the farmers, the President is siding with rice importers and businessmen.
This is reportedly related to Marcos’ issuance of Executive Order (EO) No. 62, which reduced the tariff on imported rice by 15% and continued to implement the Rice Liberalization Law (RTL), even though it led to the collapse of farmers’ livelihoods.
According to Estavillo, Marcos favors no one but private rice traders who manipulate the supply and price of rice, causing its price to rise and directly affecting the farmers.
“Not only can they not afford to buy due to the high daily expenses and farming costs, but various anti-farmer and anti-poor policies worsen the situation. We should all unite against Marcos’ leadership in the rice and agriculture crisis in the country,” added Estavillo.
As a result, Marcos received a failing grade from the farmers, especially the female farmers, as he allegedly continues to deceive the public about rice prices.
“He keeps deceiving that rice prices will go down, while his policies openly favor big traders, smugglers, and foreign businessmen,” explained Estavillo, as rice currently costs between P55 to P60 per kilo, far from the promised P20 during his campaign and the previous price of P38 before he became President. “It’s all talk about the ‘Bagong Pilipinas,’ which in reality is just hunger and poverty, favoring landlords, local, and foreign businessmen,” she added that farmers will join the protest against the SONA on July 22.”
