In my sorties around different communities, I am sort of bothered by
questions and allegations which the present Dispensation must respond to. As
alleged, funds which could have been used to liberate our people from the
shackle of poverty and hunger, has shamelessly been allegedly corrupted for
self-aggrandizement by a cabal of vested interest, the reason why many are
living in extreme poverty. Well, no less than the Social Weather Station has said
that some 13 million Filipinos are living in extreme poverty. I’ve seen that
personally in the life of some five million Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao
whose ancestral domains have been the subject of massive land-grabbing. In
fact, in 2021 when I was still Chairman of the Cooperative Development
Authority, I invited no less than an amazing journalist, Mr. Ceazar Soriano with
some 10 media staff, came to document the horrible plight of different tribes in
Bukidnon. He featured three episodes in his weekly program in PTV-4 entitled
AGAW LUPA, AGAW TUBIG, AGAW BUHAY, that manifested the truism that the
enrichment of a few oligarchs and foreign corporations means the poverty and
displacement of the Indigenous Peoples. That being the case, I as Under
Secretary then under the Office of President was ordered. in one of the Cabinet
Meetings, to organize the Indigenous Peoples into cooperatives to liberate them
from oppression and poverty. The sad plight of the Indigenous Peoples is
documented in my book, entitled, VISION BEYOND SIGHT, which no less than Hs
Excellency then President Rodrigo Duterte, wrote the Foreword .
Believing in the integrity of PresBBM whom I’ve met in his Senate office
then as Senator in 2015, I truly admired him then as he as Senator did increase
the much-needed budget of CDA, calling the Budget Office requesting to provide
CDA an additional 50 million pesos to liberate the thousands of MNLF/ MILF
combatants, who were organized into some 100 MNLF/MILF cooperatives, from poverty. He told me that the additional P50 million pesos would be a great leap
forward to uproot the causes of rebellion to stop the Mindanao War, which he
said is the second longest war in the world. For such an amazing leadership stand,
my firm salute to thank him, I said. So amazing when upon harnessing their
collective power through cooperativism, the former combatants shouted with
gratitude in a Cooperative Summit in Marawi during the height of the Marawi
Siege: “MGA PAGARI AKON, SAMA-SAMA NA TANU KOOPERATIBA.!SA LANG ANG
ARMAS NAMIN NGAYON; KOOPERTIBA! ALLAH-HU-AKBAR!
The rising of questions and allegations can be contextualized historically,.
If we may recall, the NAPOLES SCANDAL has shown that funds by the billions or
perhaps even trillions of pesos, which could have been used to increase the
productivity of the peasantry, have instead incredibly increased the wealth of
those in power, if indeed the named legislators have plundered their respective
pork barrels at the expense of those they have sworn to serve – the poor and the
vulnerable. Such gargantuan allocations could have gone a long way in making life
better for our people in a country that has been consigned all these years to dire
poverty while other countries in Asia have left us behind. Still, the stark realities
of poverty prevail especially in the rural areas where malnutrition is rampant. Pity
the increasing number of pupils going to dilapidated classrooms without the
benefit of books and educational materials.
Government Health Centers are without adequate medicine. The much-
needed farm-to-market road remains the culprit why our farmers are under the
mercy of the local compradors and insufficient farming capital that ties up the
farmers to the oppressive usury system, the reason why during my stint as CDA
Chairman, CDA & Land Bank of the Philippines under then Chair Cecelia Borromeo
came up with a Memorandum of Agreement to provide loans to the Farmers’
Cooperatives without interest,
Worse the ecological people and the primary victims of alarming ecological
disasters, hanging like a “Sword of Damocles” in a country that has lost its
ecological integrity and security, These are just some of the problems which
should have been addressed if only democracy has been used to advance the
interest of the people and not of the privileged few who cannot moderate their
greed, It is in this light that the Present Dispensation should really prioritize agricultural development, the Philippines being an agricultural country and any
short or long-term development can be won or lost through agriculture,
As a strong leader, PresBBM should follow the principles of transparency
and accountability to stop corruption, if in fact the allegations were true. Indeed,
it is so outrageous, like vultures feeding upon the flesh of poor who are prisoners
of hunger and poverty. Poverty dehumanizes as it strips a human being of his/her
dignity. Well-funded government programs are the countervailing measures to
bring back that dignity that could have been a beacon of light and hope under the
darkness of poverty and despair. Programs should not just be limited to AYUDA as
such may cure hunger temporarily but must focus on uprooting the causes of
hunger and poverty, as what then Senator Marcos did when he supported CDA in
empowering the poor and oppressed MILF/MNLF combatants through
coopoerativism, Then Sen, Marcos in our meeting mentioned that harnessing the
collective power of the people through cooperativism is the right approach to
draw those in the margins into the mainstream of development process. Our
meetings in his Senate Office can be googled through U-Tube, If only the Present
Dispensation can correct social wrongs which still remained unchecked, as the
structures and systems breeding poverty are still as formidable as ever despite 14
years of Martial Law and two-people powered revolutions, then we can aptly
claim that all these allegations of corruption are untrue and the much-awaited
leader has come. That was categorically shown when he was a Senator when he
worked for the empowerment of the poor and the oppressed thru
COOPERATIVISM. Well, there is no doubt that in a country oozing with ecological
wealth, people are poor because of their powerlessness to have access and
control over their resources. HARNESSING THEREFORE THEIR COLLECTIVE POWER
IS THE RIGHT ROADMAP WHERE DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE FOR, BY AND OF THE
PEOPLE! WHEN SOCIAL WRONGS SUCH AS POVERTY, GROSS SOCIAL INEQUITIES
AND SOCIAL INJUSTICES ARE RECTIFIED, THEN A TRANSFORMATIVE LEADER HAS
FINALLY COME FOR PEOPLE, PLANET, PROSPERITY AND PEACE – ALL FOR GOD’S
GREATER GLORY!
