"will we eat cement?"
Central Luxon expressway is another example where over 200 hectares of land will be lost to farmers and it is likely that over 500 more hectares will be lost, said Arnold Gallardo. Such projects benefit the corporations but greatly disenfranchise the small farmers of the Philippines. More importantly, policies like Rice Liberalization Law and Build Build Build project go hand-in-hand as farmers are forced to sell their lands to make ends meet, thereby making it easier for infrastructure projects to acquire agricultural land and convert these into business parks, highways etc. "Will we eat cement?" rightly questions Arnold Gallardo with alarming rise of corporate capture and dwindling food sovereignty in the world.
Those who resist these so-called 'development' projects are often profiled, criminalized, and face extreme state repression in several parts of the world. Lito Lumapas said that when farmers try to protect food sovereignty and resist these projects they are branded as 'leftists', 'communists' or 'terrorists' and subjected to vilification campaigns, threats and harassments. In many communities of central Luzon, farming communities are even being harassed by armed state agents.
Lito Lumapas reassures that despite the grim situation and state repression against the poor and small farmers, they will continue to fight for genuine land reforms, rights of urban poor for decent housing, and stand against displacement of the local people.
As food sustains life, the writing on the wall is clear: hope for sustainable development where no one is left behind lies in genuine agrarian reforms and free distribution of land to those who till it.
Bobby Ramakant - CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Bobby Ramakant is co-hosting the ongoing fortnightly Peasants Rise Up Broadcast Series, and is part of CNS, Asha Parivar and Socialist Party (India) teams. Follow him on Twitter @bobbyramakant or read www.bit.ly/BobbyRamakant )
- Shared under Creative Commons (CC)
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
