PBBM: What’s this about a farmer killing himself as not being connected to the price hike of onions.
KA.MON: Sir. The death of a farmer in Bayambang Pangasinan not being connected to the onion price hike is a gross misrepresentation. The regional headline of a spread sheet taking the side of the police in trying to get the wife of a farmer to recant her declaration at the Senate hearing is not also news. The warning of Senator Imee not to harass Senate witnesses is inconsequential. Mr. President his real story is that it started the spike of onion prices when he planted more hoping to have more income without knowing that we have now joined the global market many years ago. The farmer’s death was caused by his ignorance of the world economy (since it is not explained to them). Additionally, his unending indebtedness (which he was not able to pay due to price manipulations that happen every season of onion harvest just like in palay and soon to potato and eggs).
PBBM: What then seems to be the real reason for his taking his own life.
KA MON: It is not because of the onion price at the time of his death. His taking his life was his only recourse to save of what is left of his and his family’s honor. Honor is sacred among our farmers while others may not consider it as equal to one’s life. A farmer's word is also equal to his honor. Taking his own life was his last recourse to allow his family to move on and save them from shame. It must have reached a point where there is nowhere else to go but suicide. Now this could be the saga of an agrarian reform beneficiary that DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III should consider in renewing agrarian reform. Most farmers now inherited their farms from their parents—beneficiaries of your father’s agrarian reform. And their farm holding s so small it is no longer viable to produce enough to feed their families. Add to that the cost of educating their children. They continued to plant onion and rice to be able to borrow to keep body and soul together during the lean months. This started during your father’s time, who was eased out of the presidency but the succeeding presidents redefined the agrarian reform to mere land distribution without any credit support. Your dad’s PD 717 or the agri-agra law required banks to allot 25 percent of loanable funds to these sectors. But subsequent presidents made compliance to the law as voluntary with an option to invest in government securities, leaving hardly anything for agri-agra.
The agrarian reform beneficiaries or their groups were not capacitated to be bankable.
PBBM: Are you saying that the government giving in to the strong lobby of the banks to water down PD 717 is the reason for the farmer’s suicide?
KA MON: Not only that. The slow death of the agrarian sector began under a free- market economy and global trade. In the last 30 years or post Marcos era, the farmers never got a fair trade on their produce. The conclusion to this story is that sky- hike priced onions started with the farmer that committed suicide. This is the saga of the onion farmer’s suicide. And he is not the only one. This story is much deeper, but it is for DAR to conduct a social study and capacitate our small farmer holders to have the economies of scale and free them from indebtedness and utter poverty. The DA, which you Sir head, must be informed of this reality. Sadly, the rumor now is that the DA might be led by the son of an haciendero clan. (Since the stakeholders have all aged, it can be called the "Department of Aging Culture). If this happens, an Agrarian Revolution to replace him is not far behind.