Farmers chide big agri interests

The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) stated that there can be no real independence for the Philippines if its agriculture continues to cater to agricorporations’ demand for high value crops.

According to John Milton “Butch” Lozande, UMA Secretary General, the Philippines, has rapidly converted its rice and corn fields to become vast plantations of HVCs. It is a major exporter of bananas, pineapples and oil palm to the rest of the world. It also grows rubber, tobacco, coffee, cacao, and sugar for multinational corporations based in the country alongside local oligarchs and landlords.

Agricorporations continue to expand their operations and monopolize the country’s agricultural system through Agribusiness Venture Arrangements (AVAs).

At present, 1.2 million has. of agricultural lands are covered by AVAs. These are business agreements entered between multinational agricorporations, either through local corporations often headed by big landlords, with agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), settlers, and indigenous peoples, among others.

Often, ARBs enter into AVAs because of fear of not being able to pay their land amortization and the government’s utter lack of support services.

Though agribusiness plantations have destructive effects on farming communities’ food security, health and livelihood, the Duterte government is insistent in expanding this to 1.6 million ha more, with 1 million ha just for oil palm and mostly in Mindanao.

AVA is part of the government’s adherence to neoliberal policies, dictated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank (WB), as it devotes large areas of land and water resources for export-crops, mostly under the control of agribusiness transnational corporations.

It is essentially a scheme to reconcentrate agricultural lands back to landlords and foreign agro-corporations. Meanwhile, the government hardly provides any subsidies to local farmers who are growing staple crops such as rice and corn for domestic needs.

These harsh realities spurred by an import-dependent, export-oriented economic system show that it is only through the realization of genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization that the country can ever become truly free.

As a sign of its commitment, the government should sign the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) in the upcoming peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) this July.

CASER’s guarantee of free land distribution and provision of support services to poor farmers makes its signing a critical first step in achieving real independence for the country.

Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura Federation of Agricultural Workers | Philippines