KMP
News Release
References: Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secreatry general, APC and KMP; Ka Willy Marbella, internal deputy secretary general, KMP

“Cha-cha would make the entire country like IRRI!”-KMP

April 4, 2006

The militant Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) lambasted the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on its 46th anniversary at the Asian People’s Tribunal Against IRRI held at the Balai Kalinaw in the University of the Philippines Diliman. Protest actions in front of IRRI as well as in other countries in Asia which have been affected by IRRI’s operation are also being held simultaneously today.

  According to Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, concurrent secretary general of  APC and KMP, “IRRI has done enough damage not only to the Filipino people, but to the whole Asian population, it is high time that it should be shut down. For 46 years it has used our lands and benefited immensely from our agricultural resources but has caused so much harm and even death to Filipino farmers. It has land-grabbed and contaminated our soils. Families around the facility continue to suffer from diseases caused by the chemicals used in the facility, deaths of workers and former workers of IRRI are mounting,”

  “But what is worse is that IRRI enjoys diplomatic immunity, it is like a US military base and the laws of the Philippines do not apply in its area. It is brandishing this immunity against the protests and suits filed by farmers under our organization saying that because of this immunity they are not liable for the deaths and sickness caused by its operations,” added the peasant leader.

  Meanwhile Ka Willy Marbella, internal deputy secreatry general of KMP said, “this is what will essentially happen to the whole country when Charter change occurs because the Macapagal-Arroyo regime is pushing for the 100% foreign ownerhip of land. We will become squatters in our own country and landlessness would further increase. So it is imperative that we stop Cha-cha now and shut down the IRRI,”

  “They are both inimical to national sovereignty and to the interest of peasants. They deserve nothing short of wholesale condemnation!” ended Marbella. # # #