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Millitants blames WTO for shattering RP food security


MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government’s entry and concurrence to World Trade Organization (WTO) and Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) has led to the present rice crisis and has wreaked havoc on the livelihood of farmers and other sectors, as well as to the food security of the third world countries. This was the contention made Tuesday by the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). Danilo Ramos, Secretary-General of APC and KMP, said WTO has signal-fired the dumping of heavily state-subsidized exports in developing countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh which dominoed and resulted in the marginalization of local produce, triggering bankruptcies and indebtedness to the farmers. “Imported rice has sideswiped the locally produced (rice) that triggered the pressing down on farmgate prices of palay," Ramos said. The country has imported a total of 2.2 million metric tons of rice from Vietnam and Thailand. “The flooding of imported rice gave local traders a bargaining chip to force farmers into selling palay at lower costs, which cyclically compelled them to convert into other crops or totally pawn or sell their farms," Ramos added. APC and KMP said that government authorized massive dumping resulted in the rapid decrease of rice farm hectarage that contributed to the country’s inability to independently supply its local demand. Thus, government is now rationalizing importation, the groups said. As the government executing WTO provisions destroyed the capacity of the country to produce food, world food market has been controlled by developed countries and generated super profits by gradually increasing their prices at the cost of dependent countries such as the Philippines. “We are now importing rice that is more expensive than those locally produced at milled stage, at the consumer end, people are lining up and being restricted with the maximum purchase of five kilograms of rice," Ramos noted. “The government is buying and losing at purchasing imported rice, but it has no intention of using its funds in buying the locally-produced because it tied its own hands as form of total puppetry to the WTO. It invokes non-intervention when it concerns the interests of giant foreign countries and corporations, but all hands in harming the welfare of poor farmers," exclaimed Ramos. “It’s all integral, that government consciously reduce rice farms to cater cash crops, complemented by the promotion of genetically- modified varieties of rice designed by the International Rice Research Institute, wishing of high tonnage per hectare that is only possible of the usage of inputs manufactured by giant foreign agro-chemical corporations," Ramos said. “All these giant foreign countries and enterprises are all that compose the WTO, in conspiracy with puppet governments such as Arroyo’s, they all play this wicked performance, deceiving and exploiting the peoples of the world by causing hunger, poverty and anarchy. The only way to end this is for all of the oppressed to unite and concert their massive actions," concluded Ramos. - GMANews.TV
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