More farmers block North Cotabato highway to call for drought relief

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Another group of farmers from drought-affected towns blocked a stretch of the Sultan Kudarat-Davao Highway in Makilala, North Cotabato on Thursday to call on Malacañang to address hunger in the province.

North Cotabato, officially called Cotabato province, has been affected by a dry spell since last November. Drought has withered vast swaths of rice and corn in North Cotabato, where majority of residents rely on farming as their main source of income.

Some 5,000 farmers barricaded portions of the Cotabato-Davao Highway in North Cotabato’s provincial capital, Kidapawan City, on Wednesday, stranding thousands of motorists and commuters.

Local officials, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said groups identified with the New People’s Army are partly responsible for the mass actions by farmers.

The sources said rebels coerced leaders of farmers' groups to picket on strategic portions of the two highways to catch the attention of relief agencies and the media.

According to radio reports on Wednesday, Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza was to hold a dialogue with protest leaders, among them representatives from local chapters of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

Pedro Arnado, KMP’s vice chairperson for Southern Mindanao, had told reporters Mendoza agreed to discuss the problems caused by the drought now confronting local peasant communities.

The farmers are demanding a rice subsidy from the government for their families to have something to eat until they can till their lands again when the rains come in June.

They have also asked for seeds of drought-resistant vegetables they can grow for food.

Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista said the provincial governor waited for the protest leaders at his office in city hall for a dialogue late Wednesday but none of them arrived.

Evangelista said Mendoza was ready to listen to them and address concerns that are still within his capacity to resolve.