Rosendo So, the longtime chief of the Samahan ng Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag), was quoted recently as supporting the senatorial run of the heiress Camille Villar to succeed her mother, Cynthia, and provide company to her brother, Mark, at the Upper Chamber, particularly now that people are starting to examine Mark’s flood control projects during his time as public works secretary during the unlamented Duterte administration.
Naturally, Sendong will be asked by genuine farmers whether he really endorsed Camille Villar or not since many farmers organizations have officially denounced the Villars for taking over arable land, irrigated land, fertile land and any type of land where anything grows, as well as working to establish a framework for land conversions since the Villar family are landowners who have transformed fertile land into cemeteries and denied food producers their farms.
Cynthia Villar is the arch-enemy of farmers and she has earned their opprobrium by typically denigrating their intelligence, telling agriculture officials to speak slow, use the lingua franca and be patient with peasants because they cannot understand complex issues. By treating farmers as perennially suffering from cerebral flatulence, she forgot to understand that farmers know more about plant and animal diseases than her, that fishermen know when to go fishing and when not to based on the phases of the moon and the migration patterns of pelagic species. The rice varieties with best eating qualities were not developed by the Villars but by farmers and the “mangmang” technicians from UP Los Banos.
Farmers have no truck with the water lily handbags of Cynthia Villar and her supposed creative doodads purportedly backed by research funds from the government. No one is even interested on how many billions of pesos they have despite hoarding thousands of hectares that should have been utilized for food production rather than lie idle. Naturally, farmers, fishermen and agricultural workers would be amazed to find out that Villar companies have been blessed with tax amnesties in Las Pinas City, which should soon be called Villar City, and they would certainly ask if the Villar dynasty has been paying their business taxes, real estate taxes and other levies to the city government.
Sendong So is entitled to his political preferences just as other farmers are free to disagree since they cannot support Camille Villar. They know her as one of the 70 Duterte minions who scuttled the ABS-CBN legislative franchise at the House of Representatives, and the notoriety has been welded to her. What we know is that the frequencies of ABS-CBN were chopped up, ending with the Villars, Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy’s Sonshine Media Network Int’l (SMNI) and other Duterte cronies. We can now ask the cherished heiress what law had she crafted, sponsored and pushed from the time she sat at the Lower House.
Of course, taking a business course in Spain is no guarantee that Camille can burn the midnight in her passionate commitment to uplift the situation of millions of poor Filipinos, consistent with the mandate of the 1987 Constitution, specifically Articles 12 and 13, which commands the executive and legislative departments to achieve the equitable distribution of economic opportunities, income and wealth. Thus far, government has succeeded in making Manny Villar the wealthiest Filipino and one who promotes himself as an urban dairy farmer.
Naturally, millions of farmers are flabbergasted by Sendong So’s endorsement of Camille Villar and they are not following his lead and wondering aloud where he snatched the idea that Camille has consistently supported agricultural development. Elaborating on his controversial support for Villar, So declared that Camille has been concerned about the welfare of farmers, poultry and livestock raisers and added that the hearts of the other members of the Villar political dynasty, ex-Senate President Manny Villar and outgoing Sen. Cynthia Villar, also bleed for farmers. The mother and daughter tandem was credited for enacting the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law or the Republic Act 12022, which classifies agricultural smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and engaging in cartels as acts of economic sabotage. Yet, no rice, sugar and vegetable smuggler has been arrested, charged, prosecuted and convicted by that law.
“For the past years kasi, ang farming sector, pag may kailangan, hindi lang ang nanay niya, si Senator Cynthia Villar ang pinupuntahan, pati si Camille. Ang batas kasi kailangan i-daan sa Kongreso at sa Senado. Talagang very supportive si Camille pagdating sa agriculture, lalo na pag nakaupo na siya sa Senado,” So was quoted as saying. Camille vowed to support measures such as the creation of a Livestock, Poultry and Dairy Competitiveness Enhancement Fund since we are iun the campaign period. The devil has always promoted hell as better than heaven, and politicians have taken his counsel seriously. (DIEGO MORRA)
