By Chito Chavez
In celebration of the International Women's Day, the militant farmer’s group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) paid the highest tribute to all Filipinas especially women laborers, farmers, professionals, migrant workers, teachers, students, church and health workers, mothers and all women toiling masses.
Agrarian Reform Secretary designate Rafael Mariano
Credit: DAR Philippines via Twitter / MANILA BULLETIN
"Women comprise more than half of the Filipino population. They are among the bearings and gears that turn the economy, they are the producers of country's food and wealth, they are among the most productive forces, and yet they still suffer unimaginably under this macho-fascist regime of Rodrigo Duterte,’’ peasant leader Rafael Mariano said.
A former Agrarian Reform secretary of President Duterte, Mariano slammed the President saying “Filipinas do not deserve a President like Duterte.
He noted that Filipino women do not “deserve this kind of society that looks down upon and discriminates women and children’’.
“Filipino women deserve and are worthy of the best social conditions,’’ he added.
Mariano also described Duterte as “the number one misogynist saying the prevailing tyrannical policies targets all sectors and in the course of the many wars launched by the Duterte regime against the people where many women were killed and abused.
"Filipino women are subjected to hardships, exploitation and discrimination on a daily basis. The severe economic crisis that trickles down to ordinary households is also a heavy burden that they carry on their backs day in and day out. Current social conditions hinder their full potential and productivity as individuals," noted Mariano.
Free land distribution will unleash the productive potential of peasant women
Mariano said among the long-standing demands of Filipino peasant women in particular, include free land distribution and genuine land reform, and better living conditions
“More than half of the labor force in the countryside are women and are comprised of small income earners, household workers and unpaid family labor. To be able to unleash their potential and productive capacity, a genuine transformation of the rural landscape is necessary.”
AMIHAN, KMP and Bantay Bigas led the peasant women’s march against rice liberalization from Morayta to Mendiola.
“The rice liberalization policy will burden women and their families,” according to Jovy Torres of the Samahang Magsasaka sa Compra from Norzagaray, Bulacan.
KMP joined the IWD 2019 protest action led by Gabriela and Babae Ako in Manila and major urban centers nationwide.