Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas
Manila – As Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., sealed an agreement with US Department of Agriculture officials, in Washington, DC, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines) branded it as a renewed semi-colonial shackle on the Philippine agriculture sector, and claimed that the country’s very history exposed US imperialism and how it plundered agriculture and oppressed the Filipino farmers and other sectors.
“Nasa kasaysayan na ang kolonyal na paghahari ng Amerikano sa agrikultura, dumaan ang bansa sa Bell Trade Act, sumunod ang Laurel-Langley Agreement, itinayo pa ang Int’l Rice Research Institute o IRRI, ipinatupad ang Masagana ’99, nagsunud-sunuran ang nakaraang rehimen sa dikta ng US at pumasok sa World Trade Organization – Agreement on Agriculture, at pinakahuli ang Rice Liberalization Law na dikta ng WTO. Lahat ng ito ay pagsasamantala sa mga magsasaka Pilipino, at ang nilulutong U.S.-Philippines Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) sa ilalim ng Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) ay siguradong magpapalala sa kalagayan ng mga magsasaka,” Danilo Ramos, National Chairperson of KMP said in a press statement.
He added that during the American colonialism, imports were with preferential tariffs or duty-free, big landlords’ domination over vast sugarcane and coconut plantations were promoted by the colonial government, to secure sources of cheap raw materials for their capitalist economy, and imposed sugar quotas. In 1950 US President Harry Truman appointed Nelson Rockefeller as chairperson of the International Development Advisory Board, to expand the US Marshall Plan on a world-wide scale, and among its result was the establishment of IRRI in the Philippines in 1960. In 1973, the Marcos dictatorship launched the Masagana 99 program, involving American high-yielding varieties and agro-chemical products, that led to increased cost of production, bankruptcies of farmers and displacement from farms.
Moreover, the very root cause of the agricultural and food crisis, import liberalization bannered by the WTO, was dictated by US imperialism. Its latest manifestation was the enactment of the Rice Liberalization Law in 2019, where rice farmers all over the country were incurring losses by hundreds of billions of pesos of potential income, due to depressed farmgate prices and influx of imported rice.
“Kung trade and investment sa agrikultura ang nilalako ni Marcos Jr., maaaring dalawa ang maging danyos nito- (1) pagpapalayas sa mga magsasaka sa lupa, dahil pag-aari ito ng mga malalaking panginoong maylupa na magiging kasosyo ng mga dayuhang monopolyo. Matatransporma sila bilang mga manggagawang bukid, na hindi regular ang kabuhayan at mala-alipin ang sweldo. (2) lalong pagkalugi ng mga magsasaka kung babaha sa bansa ang mga produktong agrikultural mula US. Lingid sa kaalaman ng iba, malaki rin ang ine-export ng US na bigas, na nagkahalaga ng USD1.8 bilyon noong 2020. Malaki rin ang export nilang mais, karneng baboy at baka, mga processed food at produktong gatas. Kapag bumagsak lalo sa bansa ang mga ito, lalong malulugi ang mga lokal na prodyuser sa agrikultura,” Ramos slammed.
He said that while agricultural sectors were already preparing for the calamitous impact of the recently approved Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) effective this coming June 2, the Marcos regime was again adding another burden.
“Hindi na lang RCEP ang babantayan ng mga magsasaka at ibang sektor sa agrikultura, kundi pati IPEF. Kaya panawagan namin sa mga lahat ng magsasaka sa bansa at mamamayan na nais makamit ang self-sufficiency at food security sa bansa, na magkaisa, tutulan, magpahayag at kumilos laban sa Marcos-Biden IPEF,” Ramos ended. ###
