Farmers’ groups hail ‘pro-farmer’ projects of government

Several farmers’ groups have hailed what they described as pro-farmer projects of President Arroyo, citing the gains its members achieved both as farmers and importers-producers.

In a letter to Mrs. Arroyo, the farmers cited the Farmers As Distributors (FAD) and Farmers As Importers of Special Rice (FAISR) projects which they said vastly improved their means of livelihood.

Such projects, conceived and implemented nationwide by Presidential Adviser on Agricultural Modernization Angelito M. Sarmiento, were designed to give farmers a chance to become distributors and importers.

Representatives of various farmers’ cooperatives expressed gratitude to Mrs. Arroyo for her "continuous support to the plight of the Filipino farmers like us who are the backbone and part of the edifice of a strong republic."

Mrs. Arroyo made the entire Filipino farmers not only as food producers but also as traders, the groups said in their letter.

The farmers also lauded the efforts of the heads of various government agencies in the implementation of the projects such as Administrator Arthur Tan of the National Food Authority, Land Bank of the Philippines president and chief executive officer Gary Teves, Cooperative Development Authority head and newly appointed secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform Obet Pagdanganan, Sarmiento and also the various NFA provincial offices.

The farmers’ cooperatives that threw their support to the President’s pro-farmers projects are San Vicente Multi Purpose Cooperative, Cabuloan Farmers Multi Purpose, San Luis Multi Purpose Cooperative, Cayambanan Progressive MPC, Santiago MPC, Gold Star MPC, Metro Pangasinan MPC, Lucky Dreamers MPC, Gideon MPC, Rosales Goshen MPC, Modern Farmers MPC,

Nambalangan-Guibel MPC, San Angel Christian Development Cooperative, San IPM Farmers MPC, Duna Weste RIC Women Group MPC, Sison-Pozorrubio Multi Purpose Agricultural Cooperative, Mauban MPC, Imarocas MPC, Sasamato MPC, Mabuhay Development Cooperative, Casibong MPC and Nancamaliran East MPC.

The NFA has granted farmer-beneficiaries free use of its warehouses where they can stockpile their harvest while supply is abundant and sell them during the lean months.

This set-up, according to farmers, has enabled them to hold on to their produce without being forced to sell them to cartels and avoid fake shortages which are often merely projected by price manipulators. – Nestor Etolle