CLARIN, Misamis Occidental (MindaNews / 12 March) – Labor leader and Presidential candidate Leodegario “Ka Leody” de Guzman met with coconut farmers here as he barnstormed in Misamis Occidental on Friday and Saturday with running mate Walden Bello.
Coconut farmers who produce coco fiber, coco peat and copra, on Friday said they are awaiting help from government as they lack tools for their work and water in their respective barangays.
“Lumalaki rin ang costing, tapos sa shipment ng barko papuntang Cebu, kasi yung product naming papuntang Cebu tumaas din ng one thousand pesos sa bayad sa barko” (The cost is increasing and the shipment of the products bound for Cebu has increased by a thousand pesos), Jackyvyn Flores, general manager of the Segatech Daku Small Farmers Cooperative, told De Guzman and Bello of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino.
Bello, former Akbayan party-list Representative and now candidate for vice president, promised to help the coco farmers by pushing for the implementation of the coco levy trust fund.
“So dapat mauna naman ang interes ng mga Pilipino, mauna naman ang interes ng mga manggagawa, mauna naman ang interes ng ating mga coconut farmers, mauna talaga yung national interest, hindi ang interest ng mga foreigners” (So the Filipinos’ interest should come first, the interests of the workers, the coconut farmers, national interest, not the interest of the foreigners), he said.
De Guzman urged coconut farmers here to carefully choose the candidates they would vote for on May 9.
He said campaigns where there is dancing and guest celebrities should be stopped as these are the ways candidates resort to to avoid talking about the state of our country. He also said that the election system of the country should be changed and candidates who are willing to serve the people should be put in position instead of candidates who only serve the rich.
“Ako particular 36 years na leader manggagawa, wala akong sweldo. Yun ang totoong naglilingkod. Yun ang track record na dapat nating tignan. Hindi yung nagyayabang, ako ang nagpapagawa ng ganito, ako ang nagpapagawa ng ganitong building, ako ang nagpagawa ng eskwelahan. Hindi naman kanyang pera, pera ng gobyerno yun at siya ay may sweldo habang ginagawa niya yun (I have been a labor leader for 36 years, I have no salary. That is genuine service. That is the track record that we should look at, not those who just brag that they did this and that building or that school. That is not his money, that’s the money of government and he is paid to do that), he said.
He vowed to implement fair wages for those in the provinces and Metro Manila if he wins the Presidency. “Ako’y naniniwala na ang aking plataporma ay laban ng magniniyog, laban ng magsasaka, laban ng mga mangingisda, laban ng mga manggagawa” (I believe that my platform is the fight of the coocnfut farmer, the fight of the farmer, the fight of the fisherfolk, all workers).
Bello also promised to provide help for the coco farmers by implementing the coco levy trust fund.
“So dapat mauna naman ang interes ng mga Pilipino, mauna naman ang interes ng mga manggagawa, mauna naman ang interes ng ating mga coconut farmers, mauna talaga yung national interest, hindi ang interest ng mga foreigners,” he said.
De Guzman and Bello were in Clarin, Tangub and Ozamiz on March 11, Oroquieta and Tudela on March 12 and will be in Kolambugan, Maigo and Linamon in Lanao del Norte on March 13. (Marivic Omandam Davis / MindaNews)