Philippines: Semi-feudal oppression of vegetable farmers in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur
Hereby we share an article by the revolutionary newspaper Ang Bayan.
Poor and middle peasants in the Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur border towns usually till one hectare of land or even less. They usually plant vegetables such as squash, chili, cabbage, potato, carrot, tomato, Baguio beans, bell pepper, eggplant, and broccoli, as well as sweet potato and corn. They endure multiple layers of semi-feudal oppression, from landlessness, usury, and high production costs to low farmgate prices for their products.
Exploitation in production
Lacking sufficient capital, peasants commonly borrow money for production. They submit to loan agreements with local “financiers” or usurers who impose exploitative arrangements and interest rates. In the case of vegetable farms, the loan interests often take the form of a cut in the total harvest or income. For landless peasants, the “maintainer” system prevails. Under this system, the landowner (acting also as financier) lends money to the peasant to cultivate the land that he allows them to use. The loan covers land preparation, seeds, fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, and wages for farm workers. In this way, the farmer alone shoulders the production costs and labor. Some financiers burden the peasants by cheating them on the prices of farm inputs they lend. In one case, a financier priced ₱1,100 [Editor’s note: Philippine pesos] gallons of Roundup herbicide at ₱1,700. Vegetable farmers often suffer losses if farmgate prices for their products drop or if calamities strike. This situation traps them in an endless cycle of vicious loans from financiers for succeeding planting seasons until they sink deeper into debt.
Exploitation in selling
Farmers transport their vegetable products to Cagayan de Oro City, far from their farms. They deliver these to the vegetable trading post in Barangay Bulua, where products are usually stockpiled in the warehouses owned by financier-dealers or dealers. The farmers are charged ₱20 per sack (100 kilos per sack) for unloading their products at the warehouse. They also pay the dealers ₱2.5-₱3 per kilo (₱250-₱300 per sack) as warehouse rent, or in some cases, 10% of the sales value of the vegetable products. At the trading post, the price of vegetable products are pegged on the volume of supply and market fluctuations. Dealers disregard the farmers’ production costs when setting general prices. Dealers also set the pricing standards based on vegetable quality. They also determine the selling price to traders. If the dealer fails to sell the products, these are returned to the farmers. For example, the dealer can sell bell pepper he bought from the farmer at ₱50 per kilo to a trader for ₱70. If the dealer sells 5,000 kilos of bell pepper, he earns ₱15,000 from warehouse rent and ₱100,000 from selling to the trader. The dealer earns a gross total of ₱115,000 before deducting wages for workers and other expenses. The farmer on the other hand earns only ₱250,000 from 5,000 kilos. After deducting production costs of ₱205,132.40, only ₱44,867.60 remains. Entering into a financing or maintainer system leaves him with only ₱22,433.80. In addition, smuggling and cartels that control and manipulate supply significantly impact prices. The price of local vegetable products drops even further whenever the government allows an influx of imported vegetables. As food producers, the farmers demand security of tenure on the land they till, fair prices for their products, and the elimination of various ways their products are undervalued. They also call for fair interest rates on loans, higher wages for farm workers, and lower warehouse rent or dealer commissions.
