Filipino Farmers confront Agriculture officials with Food Sovereignty issues : QC IMC

On September 16, following a vigil the night before, the People’s Caravan in the Philippines concluded with Filipino participants conducting a fiery dialogue with officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) as they confronted the government with pressing food sovereignty issues.

About 30 farmer-representatives of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas from different regions led by KMP chairperson and Anakpawis Representative Rafael "Ka Paeng" Mariano presented a petition to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap calling for: 1) WTO out of Food and Agriculture; 2) Government subsidy to local produce and traditional seeds; 3) Stopping the commercialization and importation of GMOs; and 4) Stopping the massive conversion of agricultural lands.

Agriculture officials promised to look into their demands and encouraged continued advocacy, even while explaining and justifying current government policies.

Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher was also present to provide scientific expertise on the unsafe technology of genetic engineering, effectively contending the assurances of DA’s technical advisers that GMOs can cause no harm to the people and environment.

WTO out of Food and Agriculture

Aside from presenting official statistics on agricultural trade deficit and unemployment caused by the Philippine’s entry to GATT-WTO since 1994, the farmers also detailed experiences of rapidly worsening livelihoods that are similar across regions.

"Despite the high cost of vegetable gardening, our products are not being sold because of massive importation," said Apo Mangili, chairperson of Apit-tako, from the Cordillera region.

Lita Mariano, chairperson of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon, said that far from being the "rice granary" that it used to be, the whole of Central Luzon is now mired into poverty since quantitative restrictions on rice importation were lifted. "The Philippines, from being a leading rice producer, became a leading rice importer," said Mariano.

"Laws protecting the coffee and sugar industry in Batangas have become inutile since WTO", said Gito Bautista, chairperson of Kasama-Timog Katagalugan. For example, from a high of P600 (USD11.00) per pail of coffee in 1995, farmgate prices of local coffee have now been depressed to P75 (USD1.40) per pail.

Fernando Hicap, chairperson of the fisherfolk group Pamalakaya, also complained that 40% of the country’s fish supply come from imports.

Meanwhile, coconut farmers from Bicol complained of the low farmgate prices of copra (P16/kilo or USD0.28), and the rampant conversion of agricultural lands into other non-productive uses such as resorts and golf courses.

Give WTO a chance?

For the government’s part, Assistant secretary Sigfrid Serrano said that the people must support and give WTO another chance, especially now that the Philippines is part of an alliance of Third World countries lobbying for more equal playing ground.

He insisted on not pre-judging the WTO because in the event that the government heeds the farmers’ cry and pull out of the talks, they will be hard-pressed to negotiate alone with each trading partner, since most countries are now WTO members.

Serrano also conceded that in the last 20 years, the country has not been self-sufficient in food. He attributed this to the large population that domestic production alone cannot feed.

In response, Ka Paeng said that food supply is not a problem the world over and there is enough food to feed the entire population. He stressed that the problem lies in who controls food production, which in the era of globalization is out of the hands of poor countries and peoples. He also said that while it is true that the Philippines have been importing rice before entry into WTO, the WTO significantly contributed to the ballooning agricultural trade deficit.

"For every $1 that we earn from exports, we lose $8 in imports," Ka Paeng cited.

Increasing pesticide use

Farmers also complained of the increasing amount of pesticides required by the high-yielding and hybrid seeds sold in the market and promoted by the government.

Alfredo Catoto, coordinator for KMP-Cavite said that the lands are almost sterile because of the chemical inputs applied year after year. Almost 80% of farmers in Cavite, which is rapidly losing its distinction of being the "food basket" of Greater Manila, now use the hybrid "Gloria Rice" promoted by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. According to Catoto, "Gloria Rice" uses even more pesticides than the high-yielding rice varieties. As a result, snails and fishes that used to thrive in rice paddies are no longer seen. Worse, farmers develop skin lesions and have their fingernails fall off because of high pesticide exposure.

In Cagayan Valley, farmers are blaming Monsanto’s herbicides for causing soil erosion, thus the frequency of flash floods in the area.

Farmers bewailed the lack of government support for organic farming, and their discouragement in using traditional seeds, which they say, have better yields, use less or no poisonous chemical inputs, and leave them with more income.

Precautionary principle pushed aside

Pictures of villagers with grave skin lesions from Baggkao, Isabela, were then presented. Madonna Castillo, spokesperson of KMP-Isabela, said that such diseases were caused by Bt corn, which is now dominating the markets and fields in the province. She added that in the municipality of Ilagan, villagers vomited and had stomachaches after eating boiled Bt corn.

Dr. Arellano Bernardo, a scientist from the University of the Philippines Los Baños said that it was next to impossible that the skin lesions shown in the pictures were caused by Bt. "There is enough evidence that GMOs are safe," he said, which again elicited another round of reactions from the delegates.

Serrano also reacted by saying that the DA would immediately send people in the area to investigate the incidents. He said that medical documentation is needed in order to determine if the GM crop caused such aberrations, and that anecdotal evidences won’t suffice.

Dr. Steinbrecher suggested to the DA that such anecdotal evidences of harm, which have not yet been investigated, is enough to warrant the application of the precautionary principle contained in the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol.

"If in doubt, don’t do it." she said.

She then launched into scientific evidence of the dangerous mutations caused by GMOs, which are usually not included in the risk assessment of governments. She cited the GM contamination and monocultures emerging in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, and East Africa. She also debunked the argument that pesticide use will decrease with GMOs: "They used GM in Canada to eliminate pesticide use, but the opposite has happened. Pesticide use in GM crops in Canada has increased three-fold because the pests have developed triple resistance."

Dissenting opinions from the delegates arose when Dr. Saturnino Halos, DA technical adviser, said that genetic engineering is no different from traditional mutational breeding, and that poverty is associated with traditional varieties, which only yield up to 30 cavans (1,500 kilograms) per hectare.

A farmer from Batangas immediately spoke up and said that traditional varieties consistently yield up to 100 cavans per hectare, more than what the HYVs eventually yield after years of use.

Finally, DA officials said that they are not pushing GMOs down the throats of farmers, and that they are merely providing them with a choice.

Castillo insisted that in Isabela, farmers have no choice because that is what is available and what the traders and the local government insist on. "Those who opt not to plant Bt nevertheless have their fields contaminated because of cross-pollination," she said.

The DA official said that they will do their best to conduct investigations on GM contamination in specific areas, but warned that the evidence must be overwhelming in order to overturn an existing government policy. The DA also promised to come up with solutions that would be suitable for all stakeholders.

The dialogue ended with the farmers reiterating their call to control food, agriculture and other natural resources, which they say are being eroded mainly by WTO and agrochemical companies.