UPDATE (Philippines): Local administration still avoiding responsibility in providing appropriate assistance and rehabilitation to victims of hunger

[Re: HU-10-2005: Food assistance assured to families of farmers suffering of hunger in Alabel, Sarangani province, Mindanao; Re: HA-25-2005: Unfairly sacked farm labourers in Mindanao forced to eat poisonous frogs and corncobs due to abject poverty and lack of food]

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received further information regarding the hunger situation of unfairly sacked and displaced farmers living in Alabel, Sarangani province, Mindanao. In a report sent to the AHRC, Governor Miguel Rene A. Dominguez responded to earlier appeals of food assistance with several statements and a proposed plan to discuss and implement several assistance and rehabilitation programmes for the farmers.

While the AHRC acknowledges the efforts on part of the local administration and the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), there are still several concerns that the situation is not being addressed sufficiently and appropriately. Among these is the idea that the eating of poisonous frogs and corncobs are part of the Filipinos staple diet. In order for sufficient and nutritious food assistance to be provided to the hunger victims in the area, the AHRC maintains that this case is completely different, and local officials must understand the danger and complete denial of the right to food that eating frogs and other poisonous substances as a last resort poses. Therefore, we urge you to press the local authorities to not only provide assistance to the affected farmers and their families, but also ensure that their right to food is being upheld whereby they no longer have to succumb to such measures.

Urgent Appeals Desk — Hunger Alert
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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UPDATED INFORMATION:

The AHRC received a letter dated December 19, 2005 from the Office of the Governor in Alabel, Sarangani Province concerning their assessment report regarding the hunger of displaced families in the area. The report begins with background information concerning the May 2004 request by farmers who were fired from the Sarangani Agricultural Company Incorporated (SACI) to receive assistance, compensation and resettlement after the 2003 sacking of several employees. The report contends that after an inquiry by the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO), the office prepared a Certificate of Indigency (akin to a welfare card) for those who qualified, however claims that those who requested the certificates failed to come back on the agreed schedule.

The report then goes on to discuss findings based on the AHRC’s previous appeals regarding the hunger situation and eating of poisonous frogs and corn cobs to provide food for 17 starving families in the region who were previously employed by the SACI (please see HA-25-2005 and HU-10-2005 for further details). The findings found that only “seven families were forced to eat poisonous frogs and corncobs due to abject poverty resulting from their dismissal from SACI….Per information from Barangay Captain (BC) Emance and Barangay Kagawad Prenato Tusan, [the report states] they have not received any complaints from the concerned families regarding the report”.

The report further goes on that during a home visit, a representative from an NGO witnessed the cooking of poisonous frogs and claimed the villages told him that, “they know how to cook Hawaiian frogs in such a way that I would no longer be poisonous”. The report also stated that “young corncobs, reportedly eaten by the families, are also commonly eaten when cooked and mixed with other vegetables, while mature corncobs, when milled, produces corn grits that serves as one of the Philippines’ staple foods, which are widely eaten by Cebuanos”. The AHRC is disappointed to learn of this explanation, as in this case, the villagers were drawn to eat the frogs and corncobs only because they had no other source of food to eat. As per the conditions of the right to food, a person has the right to eat nutritious, quality and sufficient food that in no way endangers them with sickness or even death. The eating of these items cannot be deemed an appropriate food source for any Filipino in the country.

The governor’s report, did however, also lay out a proposed plan of action to be taken by the MSWDO and PSWDO to rehabilitate the displaced workers/families. The objectives are to provide social welfare intervention and other sustaining activities as well as establish a network with other agencies for intervention. Given the proposed plan however, all four steps stipulated should have been carried out by December 7, 2005. This includes:

1. The immediate delivery of rice/canned goods to the affected farmers, which the AHRC believes was delivered this week.
2. The dialogue between the displaced families and the Barangay Council to identify their issues and concerns, which the AHRC believes took place and led to the reprimand of several families.
3. A planning workshop with partner beneficiaries and other stakeholders to create a long-term plan to address the needs of the displaced families. The AHRC awaits confirmation of this workshop and any results it provided.

BRIEF HISTORY OF CASE:

Please see HA-25-2005 and HU-10-2005 for detailed background information on the case.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the officials addressed below inquiring as to the status of the assistance programmes and urge them to take immediate action to provide rehabilitation and compensation to hunger victims in the Sarangani Province. A sample letter follows.

 

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER