Mother, Land

The day Duterte signed the Anti-terrorism Law, 11 activists in Cabuyao, Laguna were manhandled by police and military men as they were packing up after a peaceful protest. They were detained without charges. A few days later, the National Vice-Chairperson of Gabriela and Chairperson of Bicolana is arrested based on a trumped up murder case. Jenelyn Nagrampa is also a barangay councilor in Nabua town, Camarines Sur.

Farming in the Philippines has been synonymous to landlessness, debt and drought. Government has always placed agriculture at the bottom of the country’s priorities. But the pandemic showed that in order to survive a lockdown, accessing and securing food is essential. It is ironic then, how a country relying on its farmers for survival neglects its food security frontliners.