Who are we rallying against?

THE order of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte for Land Bank of the Philippines to revert back to its real mandate to help farmers and placing the National Food Authority under the Department of Agriculture is a pincer move to cut circuitous processes and red tapes that hinder the development of agriculture and alleviation of farmers from state of stagnation.

Those who are out on the streets today denouncing Marcos for declaring martial law, atrocities and curtailment of freedom, will not love me for this but yes, there was this golden era in the Philippine history under the late Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos. The Kilusang Mangbubukid equates Duterte with Marcos which is rather odd. But let us set that aside first.

The only time when Philippines exported rice was during the Marcos era. It was also during that time when rice and corn farmers were liberated from the stranglehold of the “comprador”, mostly Chinese traders, who dictated the prices of farm commodities. As if that was not enough, farmers then like my father, do not get any government support. They were self-supporting and were at the mercy of unscrupulous traders.

Among Marcos first acts as President was to order the construction of several irrigation projects in the undivided province of Cotabato. Midsayap, my hometown was to be the first recipient of this program. As a parallel move, he directed the Philippine National Bank, which was then owned by the government, to reach out to the farmers. Thus, the birth of the “Bank on Wheels” and “Masagana 99” program. The Department of Agriculture technicians were provided with three-wheeled motorcycles, with a cargo compartment at the back that were filled with farm reading materials, sample pesticides and backpack sprayer used to demonstrate how to apply and handle chemicals. At the DA, there were more technicians than there were clerks. The M-99 program was meant to increase rice productivity from a low of 45 cavans per hectare to at least 99 cavans.

Upland farming then was for corn and similarly, PNB had loans available for what was then called as “Masaganang Maisan”. Fishermen were also encouraged to improve on their fishing boats and gears. PNB had “Biyayang Dagat” to provide them cheap loans.

In time, the Philippines started exporting rice and there was bonanza. The golden era as foreign publications described it.

To improve on the income of farmers, Marcos set up National Grains Authority, which is now known as the National Food Authority. NFA had facilities like solar dryers and rice mills and was provided funds to buy rice from farmers higher than what the Chinese traders were buying. This forced the traders to compete with NFA. Of course, there were corruption in the business of NFA buying and selling. Some local crooks would decline to buy palay from farmers alleging that their bodegas are full thereby, forcing farmers to sell to Chinese traders. Even then, the unconscionably low buying price had been discontinued.

The protesters are wailing against Marcos and Duterte and demanded that they be given lands to till. Before dictator Marcos was shipped out to Hawaii by the Americans, thousands of actual tiller-farmers (tenants) were already awarded lands. The dictum of Marcos’ agrarian program was “Land for the actual tillers”.

When Cory Aquino took over, she altered the land reform program of Marcos and dubbed it “land for the landless”. Her “Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program “ also designed a creative scheme that was to save Hacienda Luisita by making tenants of corporate farms co-owners instead. Those who rant against Marcos and Duterte hate to admit that what really deprived tenant-farmers from owning the land to till was actually Cory’s CARP. A classic example of this iniquity were those farmers who marched from Malaybalay to Malacanang to dramatize their plea for land. They were actually tenant farmers of a San Miguel plantation in Bukidnon who lost to office workers and favored non-farmers who were quicker and smarter than the poor tenants in demanding for land using a simple claim that they too were landless.

Blaming Duterte for the mess created by the past Aquino administration on the agrarian reform program is out of place and have other agenda. I noticed too that those staging rallies against Marcos and Duterte seemed to have suffered a serious case of amnesia. They have forgotten the poor farmers who demonstrated against Luisita and were mowed down by machinegun fires in Mendiola, and those killed in the formidable gates of that Cojuangco-Aquino-owned hacienda.

In recalling September 21, let us not forget the atrocities that followed immediately after the Marcos era. This way, there will be no missing chapters in our history and for us not to go back to the dark days of divisive politics.