News Release
March 6, 2008
Reference: Ka Willy Marbella, deputy secretary general for internal affairs, KMP  and NO DEAL convenor
 
“Increasing number of poor Filipinos is Gloria’s fault!”-KMP
RP-China deals and JPEPA will worsen it
 
The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) pointed out that the increase in the number of poor Filipinos can be attributed to the anti-poor and anti-people policies and schemes of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo like globalization, the EVAT and the numerous scams that her administration is involved in like the P728 million fertilizer scam, P3.1 billion irrigation scam and the $329 million ZTE deal.
According to Ka Willy Marbella , deputy secretary general for internal affairs of KMP and NO DEAL convenor, “It is with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’ s policy of all out neo-liberalism that has put many of our country men to the pits of poverty. Being the biggest part of our population farmers are the hardest hit. No amount of strong republic and sound economic fundamentals rhetoric can change that,”
“By totally liberalizing the agricultural sector, tons of surplus agricultural products have been dumped in the Philippines , competing with our local products and pushing farmers to starvation. Since 1999 we have an increasing agricultural trade deficit of US$3.5 billion. It is also with this policy that they have forced many farmers to plant high value crops like bananas, mangoes, pineapples and flowers thereby lowering the extent of the land allotted for our staple food like rice and corn, but still they cannot compete with the foreign products. As of now at least 110,000 hectares of our lands are controlled by Dole and Del Monte that are exclusively for pineapple and banana plants, while peasants are being displaced from their lands” said Marbella .
“With the RP-China Agricultural deals and the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreements (JPEPA) at least 1.5 million hectares will be given to the Chinese and Japanese for jatropha plantations and the expansion of banana and pineapple plantations. It is with this set up that we have become a net importer of rice and agricultural products under the World Trade Organization (WTO). These are the primary reasons for the food insecurity of our country as well as the poverty of majority of our population and not the increasing prices of food,” added the peasant leader.
“The only solution to this problem is the implementation of genuine agrarian reform and giving farmers sufficient support services so that that they can increase their yield using natural fertilizers. This will also increase the purchasing power of peasants and the money will be circulated in the economy. With this the food security of the Philippines will improve and the country will prosper as well,” ended Marbella . # # #