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.
During the last quarter of the year, people were preoccupied with decorating their homes, schools, workplaces, and parks in preparation for the holidays.
Earlier last week, while most of us are into the slapping fiasco between presidential candidates Mar Roxas and Rody Duterte, the peasants in Compostela Valley are fighting for their land, fighting for their lives.
Three years ago, our dear province of Compostela Valley and the nearby province of Davao Oriental were devastated by Typhoon Pablo (International name Bopha), damaging billions of properties and claiming thousands of lives mostly of poor farmers in Compostela, New Bataan, Monkayo, Boston, Baganga and Cateel.
It was a fine day in a village inside a banana plantation when the serenity of the cold morning was broken by the hovering sound of a plane.
Davao City’s stand when it comes to GMO is a good one, the ban on GM crops in Davao City should serve as an inspiration to the various local government units throughout the country.
The El Nino phenomenon that we are experiencing right now scored the highest for the past 65 years. According to US scientists, the dry spell, which is expected to last until December, will leave our fields dry and risk the productivity of our poor farmers.
