ISM sees resolution of farmers’ misery under Duterte’s administration

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 21): ISM sees resolution of farmers’ misery under Duterte’s administration

Foreign delegates from the International Solidarity Mission (ISM), who visited the marginalized communities in Northern Mindanao, expressed optimism on Wednesday that the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte could address the problems of marginalized farming communities in the country.

The ISM delegates, most of them coming from the United States, have been assigned in various areas in the country to observe the lives and problems confronting the marginalized farming communities from July 16 to July 20.

The delegates would discuss the various observations on different forms of human rights violations and denial of basic services during the scheduled International Conference for People’s Rights in the Philippines to be held in Davao City on July 23-24.

Rhondalei Dabuat, 36, from Seattle, USA, said that the experience she had while visiting the landless peasants in Northern Mindanao gave her optimism that the stories of the landless farmers would spark a change that would propel them for a better future.

Dabuat spent some time talking to the members of the Buffalo-Tamaraw-Limus Farmers Association (BTL), a group of farmers who have been cultivating an area being claimed by the Central Mindanao University (CMU) in Maramag, Bukidnon.

The BTL comprises some 800 families who have been asserting their occupation of some 400 hectares in Musuan, Maramag, which was granted to the CMU by then-president Carlos Garcia, according to the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines-Northern Mindanao Region (RMP- NMR) on its website.

The land became part of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and was distributed among the farmers.

The CMU has challenged the CARP decision and instituted various forms of alleged harassment to prevent the farmers from tilling and owning the land.

Dabuat sees a resolution to the land conflict affecting the peasants in Musuan for three decades under the Duterte administration.

She said that a consolidated report gathered from various stories-sharing from farmers all over the country would be presented to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte during the international forum in Davao next week.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=905856