Challenging forecast of a wealthy Philippines
MY article last week, “The Philippines 50 years hence,” drew the attention of somebody who has been avidly following this column. He is Vicente L. Domingo, who, aside from being a member of the Agriculture Board of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), also heads a large farmers’ cooperative, Kapisanan ng Magsasaka, Mangingisda at Manggagawa ng Pilipinas Inc. (Kammmpi).
Fondly called Sonny by friends and associates, he proclaims having started taking an interest in my writings after reading the series of articles on my concept of KOMUN (readers may search the archives for
the spirit of self-help underlying the KOMUN quite in harmony with just that reason-for-being of Kammmpi. By now, he has made available to KOMUN the men and resources of Kammmpi for the implementation of the former’s undertakings, the priority being the establishment of KOMUN stores in strategic areas to provide the people with a concrete view of how the self-help style of KOMUN works.
Certainly KOMUN aspires for just that state of the country in which it is ranked among the world’s most powerful economies. Both Sonny and I recognize that KOMUN will not attain its vision for the people without the Philippines, being, indeed, among the most powerful economies of the world.
KOMUN has been conceived to supplant the disastrous, bloody armed struggle that has been waged by rebel armies across the archipelago over the past half century. How KOMUN intends to carry out this vision is concerned with tactics and strategies that are better kept under wraps — as all war plans should be.
At any rate, if KOMUN is the people-friendly mode of struggle for attaining liberation of the working class, then the Philippines’ ranking 50 years hence among the wealthiest and most powerful economies of the world should be a KOMUN handiwork.
One thing I admire about Sonny is his bullheadedness. Once he sets his mind to something, he makes sure he gets it. For instance, he recognizes, as I preach, that initial adherents to the idea of KOMUN will come from the most marginalized sector of society. The urban poor? No, poorer still than the urban social dregs. Then who? The dwellers in the hinterlands, they whose lack of skill to survive in the concrete jungles of cities and municipalities relegates them to the foothills and mountains where only they can eke out a living from tilling the land.
For two septuagenarians, treading mountain ledges or forging streams on foot could be very tiresome, if not truly health-damaging. So, Ka Sonny made do with his meager resources to acquire a second-hand four-wheel-drive van to make our frequent sorties to the hinterlands of Rizal, where we intend to showcase the operation of KOMUN, a little comfortable.
If, as Mao Zedong illustrated it, one single foolish old man showed the way for removing the three mountains of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism in China, all the more can, not one, but two, foolish old Don Quixotes bring that phenomenon about in the Philippines.
“The key lies in agriculture,” says Ka Sonny. “The people must be liberated from the basic want of their stomach before they can turn their attention to developing industry — the hallmark of an advance, powerful economy.”
Ka Sonny is saddened by the fact — from his standpoint – that the government doesn’t seem to pay much attention to the plight of the farmers.
“Do you know that the Department of Agriculture allots P1.5 million for irrigating one hectare of land? But how much palay is harvested from that hectare? Some 45 to 50 cavans. You spend P1.5 million to harvest 50 cavans of rice? Crazy. Kammmpi has a technology for irrigating that same hectare for much less but for a yield that is more than double. Just you wait for KOMUN to get the necessary support for getting that technology rolling the country over. Only then can we say that the Philippines is at least on the road to becoming among the wealthiest and most powerful economies in the world 50 years hence.”
Ka Sonny’s method, from his words, is very simple.
He says, “Kammmpi enrolls farmers, like in a university, which he calls UNIEARTH (University of the Earth), because they will be trained in soil conservation and environmental production, including character and values formation since they are mostly just Grade 6 graduates.”
Ka Sonny adds, “Given necessary
power plant to convert agro-forest waste to energy that will be pollution free, and at the same time invest in a modern rice mill complex for value adding. It will also be inclusive, where the farmers will own the farmers’ corporation that will be organized to provide professional management to the 1,000-hectare module.”
According to Ka Sonny, for purposes of planting palay, 1,000 hectares are really no big deal.
“It is just planting 10 hectares a day with the same protocol. When the plants are mature they will also be harvesting 10 hectares (of palay) a day and henceforth, will be planting and harvesting 10 hectares a day.”
The Kammmpi head considers it unfortunate that the failure of the government to provide fund support for the group’s Get Smart Farm program at least one per region can cause the country to head toward a direction quite opposite that which was projected for it, as delineated in my past column.
He complains, “Kammmpi doesn’t get government support at all because we are not a business enterprise of oligarchs that generates billions of pesos for their own private pocketing. This is a sad commentary but this is the
funder or investor, since it is just an integrated farming system using the success stories of the govern-
seeds, mechanizing farms and improving post harvest facilities, then surely there will be no additional rice production, andthus, famine will be upon this country. Mind
had a 20 percent shortfall in rice production.”
Ultimately Ka Sonny warns, “We will then be no different from the African states that now have continuing civil wars, not really for leadership control but actually for food control. President Duterte may then leave a legacy unique to a tropical country. We will have a hungry country.”