From Scavanger to Organic Agriculture

Dear Colleagues

Last year and the year before, we trained some of
the garbage scavengers in Payatas how to grow
organic vegetables. And we succeeded in getting them
to practice what they learned on a piece of land far
from the garbage dump site lent to them by a
foundation. One grandmother, Manang Remy, became so
expert at organic gardening that, in addition, she
also turned her 3-4 sq. meter yard at the dump site
into a garden covered by a "mosquito net" made from
"tagpi-tagping" netting which her grandchildren got
at the dump. The mosquito net was to keep flies
away.

But most in Payatas do not have so much as a sitting
or standing space in front of their homes. The
nearest neighbor is separated only by a footpath. If
they happen to have some small space for a pot or
two, the cloud of flies will destroy their plants.
So they could practice their organic skills only on
that borrowed piece of land. But that land has
recently been turned over to a school also serving the Payatas poor.
Economics militates against organic gardening in
Payatas. Transportation cost to/from Payatas to/from
Manila Seedling Bank totals PhP46. One packet of
Okra, among the cheapest seeds, costs at least
P49/packet containing 20-30 seeds. A good-sized
plastic planting bag costs about P4-5/piece. So,
assuming that the Payatas gardener has enough space
for 4 earth-filled plastic, the small "garden" will
cost a total of at least P111. Under normal
condition, okra starts giving harvest only after 40
days, while the P111 will buy 6 kilos of NFA rice
immediately. What will a Payatas garbage scavenger
do when face with such a choice?

Anyway, Manang Remy was undaunted because she earned
from her "mosquito-netted" garden. So she went to
Montalban to do gardening there. When I pressed her
why Montalban, she responded that there is a dumping
site there where she can scavenge to earn extra,
which she can then use to invest in her garden.

BAKIT GANITO ANG PILIPINAS? PUPUNTA KA SA BASURAHAN
TO GO INTO ORGANIC AGRICULTURE? Sa Thailand,
Farmers' Bank ang pupuntahan mo para tumulong sa yo
maghanap ng lupa, magpahiram ng kapital para sa
produksyon, at maghanap ng market kasama na ang
diplomatic and consular offices nila abroad.

BAKIT GANITO ANG PILIPINAS, IIWANAN ANG RURAL AREA
SA SAMAR, LEYTE, BICOL, ATBP. DAHIL WALANG PAG-ASA,
PARA PUPUNTA LAMANG SA BASURAHAN NG PAYATAS AT
MONTALBAN? GALING SAKAHAN PAPUNTANG BASURAHAN?
GALING BASURAHAN PAPUNTANG BASURAHAN?

Is this our idea of the dignity of the human person?
Is this our idea of a sovereign citizen?

In the height of the US Depression, more than 1/4 of
the total labor force was out of work and hitching
on trains to look for work. Is this different from
the exodus of people from the rural areas to the
urban centers here and abroad? Ten million are
working abroad supporting how many here? Our present
situation may even be worse than the US Depression.

Don't we need drastic new departures? Don't we need
to raise new issues? For example, how do we utilize
and maximize the OFW remittances? Korea rebuilt and
prospered from the remittances of their Korean
Overseas Workers. How do we utilize and maximize the
skills and knowledge of our OFWs who have been
exposed to some of the best technologies,
techniques, processes, and management systems all
over the world? Japan's modernized on the advice of
teams sent to study technologies and techniques
current at that time. Our OFWs can do better than
them because they are earning while learning. Their
own earnings can be invested in their own business.

What blocks our development? Our Trapos? Partly,
yes. The Trapos' Graft & Corruption that melt down
our resources? Also partly true.

Another reason is that the opposition to the Trapos
- that means us - have really no alternative, no
systematic program. We are in a Depression-like
situation needing a "New Deal" type of program that
captures the imagination, speak for new interests,
raise new issues, and create a new coalition of all
patriotic Filipinos here and abroad. In other words,
we need drastic new departures and new programs of
scope, diversity and number as those implemented in
the first 100 days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Think about it, especially those in the PPP, since
you intend to run for positions in the country. Do
PPP and all of its potential candidates have a
platform of government?

Roger Bantiles