Philippine Peasants and Scientists Launched YORA

By: KMP and RESIST Network
April 28, 2009

On April 17, the Year of Rice Action (YORA) was publicly launched in Nepal and simultaneously commenced in 14 countries in Asia. The inception of YORA is in time for the 50th anniversary of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The YORA theme "Rice is Life and Livelihood! 50 Years of IRRI is Enough!" signifies our strong protest against IRRI and its control in agriculture.

YORA is sponsored by Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP) and its network in 14 countries that includes Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka. The members of Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, India, and Nepal are also participating in YORA.

During the regional launch, we commemorated the martyrdom of 19 peasants in Brazil who lost their lives on April 17 while fighting for their land - the incident was later dubbed as the "International Day of Peasants' Struggles."

IRRI failed its promise
In the Philippines, YORA is led by the RESIST Network (Resistance and Solidarity against Agrochemical TNCs) and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). It had a soft launch on April 3, by protesting in front of the Department of Agriculture (DA) national office in Quezon City. As IRRI celebrated its 49th anniversary, the farmers and fisherfolk led by KMP and PAMALAKAYA slammed IRRI that it failed miserably to achieve its promises to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, and ensure that rice production is environmentally sustainable. The groups said that from the beginning of IRRIs establishment, it has displaced farmers from their 225 hectares of agricultural lands. Its programs and projects have always been anti-farmer and pro-agrochemical TNCs.

On April 4, the RESIST network organized a press conference in Quezon City and presented its report on the fact-finding mission (FFM) on Hybrid Rice failure. The FFM was conducted last March 19 in San Jose and Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija to investigate the latest hybrid rice failure in the province. AGHAM (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People), MASIPAG (Farmers and Scientist for Development of Agriculture), AMGL (Alliance of Farmers in Central Luzon), Task Force Indigenous People (TFIP) and Genetic Resource Action International (GRAIN) joined the FFM.

Ms. Finesa Cosico, agriculturist and AGHAM member, said that "based on our study, the red color of the SL8H hybrid seeds from China that was planted by the farmers in Nueva Ecija may be attributed to a grain protectant, indicating that they were stored in warehouses for a long time. This means that those seeds were only surplus and sold in the Philippines for additional profit."

Liberalization of agriculture
"The case of hybrid rice failure in Nueva Ecija and in other countries in Asia clearly illustrates the blatant disregard of IRRI of farmers' welfare. Miserably speaking, the Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program (HRCP) of the Philippine government (under President Arroyo) started in 2002 concretizes the liberalization of Philippine agriculture pushing down farmers' livelihood into poverty and indebtedness", stated Wilfredo Marbella, KMP deputy secretary general for internal affairs. He added, "The hybrid rice (and even the Genetically Engineered rice) promoted elsewhere in Asia, curtails farmers' rights to save, re-use and exchange seeds. It further opens the floodgates to corporate control of the rice sector across Asia. National governments should focus their meager resources on sustainable initiatives that ensure farmers' participation in technology development and support peasants call for genuine agrarian reform."

Dr. Chito Medina, national coordinator of MASIPAG, stressed that "recent studies conducted by MASIPAG showed that the yield of organic farming is not far from that of chemical-based farming, and farmers practicing organic agriculture in fact have better net income. Sustainable farming through organic farming also contributes to food safety, conservation of genetic resources and empowerment of farmers."

Medical Mission
Last April 17, the RESIST Network together with the Brotherhood of IRRI Workers Support Services (BISSG), Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED), KMP and Anakpawis Party list organized a Medical Mission in Barangay Paciano Rizal, Bay, Laguna. The event coincided with the public launching of YORA in Nepal and in 14 other countries in Asia.

Paciano Rizal is one of the barangays comprising the Municipality of Bay in Laguna and is critically located adjacent to the experimental fields of IRRI. Most of the people in the community are working in the institute as seasonal, contractual, and regular employees. Majority of the families in the community are impoverished and quite alarming number of people, including children, are suffering from various ailments that can be attributed to the field experiments conducted by IRRI. The common medical problems in the area are diabetes, kidney problem, asthma, high blood, arthritis, skin disease, epilepsy, heart ailment and lung disorder.

According to Jun Layosa , coordinator of BISSIG, "Most of the ailments and diseases of the people here are due largely to the contamination from the field experiments of IRRI. The area is supposed to be for the residences of the IRRI workers. However, a large part of the barangay was utilized by IRRI for their experimental farms."

About 150 patients were attended to by Dr. Gene Nisperos, Secretary-General of HEAD and Dr. Julie Caguiat, Executive Director of COMMED. They were assisted by several barangay health workers and the officers of the Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council).

Peasants rally for GARB
The farmers and fisherfolk held a rally on April 17 led by KMP, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK) and Anakpawis party list in front of the House of Representatives calling for genuine land reform, the passage of House Bill 3059 Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) and the condemnation against the charter change (Chacha) which seeks to open up the country's agricultural lands for 100 percent foreign ownership.

Marbella exclaimed "let us remember the significant achievements of the Week of Rice Action (WORA) 2007-which successfully collected more than 1 million signatures for the People's Statement on Saving the Rice of Asia and WORA 2008-which challenged the incursion of GE rice into Asia and established GE-free zones." He furthered, " However, in Asia, landlessness remains prevalent and has worsened, with vast tracts of land still in the hands of big landlords and agrochemical TNCs and was further worsened by imperialist control in Asian agriculture. The peasant movement led by KMP in the Philippines and APC in Asia will continue its militant tradition to struggle for genune land reform. YORA on the other hand will complement with our actions. YORA assert the genuine agrarian reform and food sovereignty of small rice farmers and rice consumers worldwide." # # #