People’s Caravan marches into the Philippines! : QC IMC

The People’s Caravan for Food Sovereignty 2004, which is in its 14th day journey in Asia and Europe, has made its way to the Philippines, with events simultaneously taking place in several parts of Luzon and Mindanao. Main highlights include a big vigil and then a mass mobilisation of people’s movements on the 16th with protests in front of the US Embassy. There will also be forums and seminars on the Caravan issues such as the right to land and food and the call for international and financial institutions like the WTO, IMF and World Bank to get out of Agriculture.

As part of the People’s Caravan 2004, a coalition of people’s organisations, NGOs, individuals, and banana plantation community residents participated on Sunday, September 12th, in a forum on Pesticides, Globalisation and Food Sovereignty sponsored by CAUSE-DS, NAMADDS, PANAP and PAN Philippines.

In his welcome address and introduction to the forum, Mr. Renato Pacaide, Chairperson of the peasant group NAMADDS, emphasised the significance of the People’s Caravan in galvanizing an effective people’s response in various countries to the onslaught of globalisation that undermines the welfare of peasants and destroys the indigenous and life sustaining systems in developing countries. "We must assert the people’s right to land without poisons and expose and oppose the exploitation and destruction perpetuated by transnational corporations and the imperialist countries", Mr. Pacaide said.

Dr. Romeo Quijano, President of PAN Philippines and Professor at the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines then explained the adverse health and environmental effects of pesticides, particularly on vulnerable communities located near banana plantations, that are exposed to various highly toxic pesticides, which are also aerially sprayed. "Pesticides kill not only insects but also people and other living organisms", Dr. Quijano said. "Many pesticides used in banana plantations destroy the immune and reproductive systems, the endocrine system, various organs, including the brain, and can cause various forms of cancer", Dr. Quijano added.

For his part, Mr. Romeo Guevara, coordinator of the national peasant organisation KMP in the Far South region, gave a lively and comprehensive discussion of globalisation and food sovereignty, with many visual aids. "We must understand the historical, economic and socio-political roots of the extreme hardships that we are experiencing now", said Mr. Guevara. He stressed that the producers of food must have control of the land they till and must be empowered to exercise food sovereignty.

"In summary, the basic problems of a society such as ours today can be identified as foreign domination and exploitation, or imperialism, concentration of wealth and land resources by the landowning class, or feudalism, and graft and corruption of members of the ruling elite in the government, or bureaucrat capitalism", Mr. Guevara concluded.

After the forum, a press conference was held, attended by six members of the local print and broadcast media. CAUSE-DS announced that a follow-up activity will be held the following day with posters and streamers hanging in the streets, called "Operation Sabit" or Operation Hanging (of streamers)". "This is to dramatize the issues being put forward by the People’s Caravan 2004", said Mr. Pacaide.