Growing up in gold-rich Compostela Valley was an adventure filled childhood. We used to play in the rivers, collecting and inspecting stones to look for gold, mimicking old people looking for fortune. One very popular mineral back then that we were so fascinated was pyrite. It has the appearance of a polished gold, more of a fancy jewelry with all its luster. However, pyrite is known as fool’s gold.
After one year in power, it is vital for us Filipinos to pay attention to the performance of the Duterte administration. This is my objective assessment on the current administration’s program on agriculture as a fundamental sector in the country.
At the end of the day, if we look forward to a self-sufficient agriculture, we must have a sufficient plan that is rooted from our farmers.
The on-going war against illegal drugs and the summary killings placed the Duterte administration in a very precarious situation as it gains infamy. In less than a year in power, Duterte gathered more enemies from the “yellow” liberals to the conservative Catholics.
However, the track of the current programs in the agriculture department slowly starting to deviate from these promises.
We raise our hopes and welcome the positive developments of the Duterte administration, but it is important not to lose sight and focus on substantive points, let us not allow the derailments of international and local reactionaries.
Last week our network, Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-Unlad ng Agrikultura, in partnership with the Ateneo de Davao University’s School of Business and Governance organized the National Climate Conference of Farmers, Scientists and NGO’s.
What happened in Kidapawan was utterly ugly. The turn of events further exposes the current administration’s neglect on our people’s right to food, what is uglier is that those who feed this nation cannot eat.
The government already knew about El Niño as early as last year, which they predicted to be the longest in the past 65 years. In fact, the government declared some provinces of Mindanao under the state of calamity.
Our farmlands continue to bleed. In Southern Mindanao region, three cases of extra-judicial killings happened in less than a week.
