Philippine farmers
Tales of Tinang and our worsening agricultural crisis
July 5, 2022
The incident in Hacienda Tinang, considered as one of the biggest illegal mass arrests in Philippine history, has shattered the illusion of peaceful transition from Duterte to Marcos Jr.
A legacy of killing farmers?
May 24, 2022
Before Rodrigo Duterte concludes his presidency and paints a rosy legacy, let us not forget his bloody record as a relentless attacker of people’s rights to land, food security and social justice even amid a pandemic and crisis exacerbated by worship of neoliberal policies.
The ill logic of rice liberalization
June 25, 2021
The economic managers have been using runaway inflation to justify liberalizing rice importation. But government’s obsession with imports liberalization has only worsened the jobs crisis, loss of livelihoods, and farmers’ bankruptcy.
Poverty incidence of farmers and fisherfolk
October 17, 2020
The agriculture sector’s annual growth was only at 2.1% on average in 2017-2019, and its share in the economy has reached its smallest in Philippine history at 7.8% of GDP in 2019.
Cheaper rice for now, but at what cost?
February 22, 2019
by Sonny Africa The government’s economic managers claim that the new Rice Tariffication Act which takes effect on March 5, 2019 will ensure the availability of cheaper rice for Filipino consumers. They also claim that the law will make Filipino rice farmers more competitive and profitable. Yet while rice from abroad could become cheaper for […]
Three things beyond rice tariffication
February 19, 2019
President Duterte has signed the Rice Tariffication Bill into law, which promises to reform Philippine agriculture. But until the government genuinely completes land reform and gives sufficient and substantial support to agriculture, the country’s staple and Filipino farmers remain at risk. The law removes quantitative restrictions or limits to rice importation. Any amount of rice […]
