Sensing that last Tuesday’s dialogue between the vegetable industry stakeholders and BPI would lead to nowhere, a farmer leader in disgust said his farm withstood calamities but they can no longer withstand the BPI-caused demise of the carrot industry.
"We should not be blamed if we resort to planting marijuana in order to survive," he said in the dialect.
But even members of the Benguet Farmers Federation Inc. (BFF) who staged a picket during the dialogue at Golden Pine Hotel stated in a resolution that "continuous importation will affect the livelihood of 117,000 farmers who might resort to planting marijuana if their produce lose demand and market."
The resolution further stated that "if importation will not be halted, we will interpret this to mean that the national government leadership is not be the legitimate government of the poor farmers."
Despite opposition to carrot importation from farmers, including local officials and other stakeholders, BPI has not yet withdrawn its favorable recommendation on the pest risk analysis (PRA) conducted on carrots imported from China as provision of an impending bilateral agreement between the two countries.
The BPI, in its concluding statement on the PRA result, stated, "carrots may be allowed entry to the Philippines provided that the quarantine conditions and risk management measures specified in the pre- and post-entry conditions shall be strictly complied with."
This was interpreted by Benguet officials led by Gov. Borromeo Melchor as an indorsement of carrot importation despite the findings of 13 identified pests and diseases associated with carrots from China that are not found in the locally grown carrots.
BPI justified that the diseases and their risk of introduction to the local agricultural system could be managed with the effective implementation of the risk management measures.
The farmers, however, intend to counter the BPI policy recommendation before its implementation.
BFFI president Jose Andiso Sr. had earlier said,"we urge President Arroyo to be sensitive to our plight as farmers. At this time, we believe that only the President can help us since she might not have been fully informed of our problem."
During the PRA consultation, Benguet Board Member Johnny Uy and other officials insisted that local farmers can meet the needs of the country’s carrot requirements.
Uy told BPI officials that the entry of Chinese carrots will not only bring along new kind of pests and diseases but will eventually displace over 200,000 families. This would negate the President’s creation of a million jobs a year.
Farmers and local officials said that Chinese vegetables continue to flood the Philippine market even in the absence of a PRA, which is a basic requirement before importation of farm products.
This prompted local officials and farmers of Benguet’s 13 towns to appeal to President Arroyo to take a direct hand in stopping vegetable importation.
