The Filipino farmer – an endangered species

As the current consequences of global warming melts the ice caps and dumps rainwater, land masses are disappearing. In the Philippines, parts of  Metro Manila like the cities of Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas are under water. The town of Obando in Bulacan known as a place to dance and pray for a woman’s fertility is soon going underwater or if designed well, can be the Venice of the Philippines.

Climate change is just one of the many serious threats to our country’s food security. What should be of greater concern right now is the fate of our farmers. They are decreasing. In other words, they are becoming “endangered” species. And without them, you know what’s happens next – there will not be enough food to feed the 97 million Filipinos.

We need more farmers to till the land and restore its vitality. We need them to plant seeds that will produce an amazing variety of crops which when harvested will feed everyone. But the problem is, we do not pay attention to the farmers. We have taken Agriculture for granted.

What’s worse is that the Agriculture programs for the farmers are not encouraging and to top it off, you have characters like former Undersecretary Bolante and his cohorts who went to the extent of allegedly creating scams that cheated these hardworking Pinoys. Susmariosep!

Today, various reports cite that the average age of the Filipino farmer is anywhere from mid-50s to the late 60s. This suggests that many succeeding generations have abandoned their family’s farms and are lured to urban life for its promise of greener pastures, adventure and comfort. It also seems that farmer-parents do little if not nothing to convince their children to stay in the farm. Of course, no parent would wish a life so hard and unrewarding for his children. And as rural existence grows more miserable and desperate, this trend will become more widespread. If this situation persists, the Filipino farmer risks extinction.

As competent farmers disappear the quality of soil suffers and crops deteriorate as well. As the yields decrease, agricultural profitability diminishes, inevitably becoming a losing proposition for all concerned.

By the way, the farmlands in North Luzon reveal severe acidity harmful to tobacco crops. Plantations for critical agro-industries such as sugar, banana, pineapple and coconuts complain of land deficiencies and reduced yields. This is why Philippine coconut trees only yield 45 nuts per year on the average due to depleted soil quality. How will government try to resolve this? Through ‘quick fix’ solutions by giving agriculture products that will not help at all and which obviously will not effectively aid natural processes.

The Philippines has become a slowcoach compared to our Asian neighbors in terms of agriculture output and land reform. We used to teach the Thais agricultural practices. Now, they are far ahead of us. They did not grow sugar before. Now they are growing 4 million tons. We are growing only 2 million.

Food is one of the basic needs of man. If we continue to experience the wrath of Mother Nature and the corruption of government officials particularly in the Agriculture sector, then, we will lose our natural resources in no time. When we do, what is there to put on the table?

The government should look into this matter seriously. Perhaps working hand in hand with the NGOs involved in countryside entrepreneurship advocacies such as BalikProbinsya is not a bad idea.

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The Philippine National Police Highway Patrol has recorded around 12,620 road deaths between 2010 and 2011. These are mostly caused by “driver error.” Drivers who are in a hurry, distracted (by using cellphones) or sleepy are prone to such accidents. Road accidents are currently the fourth leading cause of death in the Philippines, and according to Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Assistant Secretary Dante Lantin, “this might become the main cause of mortality in 2020.”

Road safety for pedestrians must be given priority by the government. On my daily commute to work, I see several intersections without a pedestrian lane nor a pedestrian light. The people tend to cross in the middle of the street thereby causing motorists to stop for them. Another pet peeve of mine is when the MMDA or local government blocks the corner of the sidewalk with steel railings to stop pedestrians from crossing and no footbridge is on sight. Where will these pedestrians cross then? Obviously, they go to the middle of the busy street and cross. And then when they are hit it is the fault of the motor vehicle all the time.

A pedestrian crossing is a designated point on a road at which some means are employed to assist pedestrians wishing to cross. They are often found at intersections, but may also be at other points on busy roads that are unsafe to cross. They are supposed to be designed to keep pedestrians together where they can be seen by motorists, and where they can cross safely. But how can this happen, when we don’t even have enough pedestrian crossings? Only in Makati, in The Fort, Taguig and maybe some in Alabang are they all scattered in strategic places properly lit but in other parts of the metropolis only a few are seen mostly near the mall areas. There is an urgent need to look closely into the locations of these pedestrians. How about the elderly or the disabled? What provisions do we have for them when they need to cross the street?

In Hong Kong, road safety is one of the government’s priorities. Elderly pedestrians are properly monitored by the Traffic Branch. Verbal warnings are given to elderly pedestrians who disregard the policy on the use of pedestrian crossings or lanes. A pedestrian safety campaign is also conducted to educate pedestrians, in particular senior citizens, on the safe measures of crossing roads.

Pedestrians in Singapore always use pedestrian crossing facilities such as signalized crossings, Zebra crossings and overhead bridges to cross the roads. A pedestrian who causes hurt by an act which endangers the life or personal safety of others can be charged under Section 337 of the Penal Code and is liable, on conviction, to a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for up to a year. How I wish we could have this law.

There are many models for pedestrian safety around the world. There has to be one that will suit our needs. Perhaps we need stricter rules or ordinances that will make everyone think twice before crossing a busy intersection. Even those warning signs seem not to work at all. I hope this administration looks into this matter with more resolve to save more lives in this country.