Rivera, Joshua Daniel D.

ARTS 1 - F

2020-35087 12.11.21

One Plight, Two Outcomes

Danielle Madrid’s “Pagkatapos ng Tigkiriwi” presents the unfortunate situation that sugar
cane farmers in Nueva Ecija face on a daily basis. It gives us a firsthand account of the struggles
that some farmers overcome, while others continue to face to this day. Our country’s agricultural
situation has not changed for decades. Rich families own vast plots of land, leasing it to farmers
who are criminally underpaid and at risk of losing the very little source of income they have. 

The farmers of the Hacienda Carmelo Workers Association experience what most
farmers in the Philippines do. They are grossly underpaid, are forced to seek work elsewhere
from the months of June to September, and are about to lose the very land they plant on as its
owners have used a legal loophole to enable them to construct a memorial park in its place. I feel
strongly for farmers like them, descending from a family of farmers myself. The legal issues
surrounding land ownership are almost always used against the farmers who have rightful claims
to the land. Since it is a very intricate and complicated process, the landowners almost always
have their way, hiring attorneys who can prolong the process, deliberately making mistakes in
the titles, much like what the owners of Hacienda Carmelo. 

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), mandated by law to help farmers with land
ownership concerns, seems to be nothing but a medium for landowners to carry out their
schemes. Their offices are the venue for the lengthy dialogues, seemingly unending while the
construction of the memorial park in the sugarcane fields goes underway. Christian Tuayon,
Secretary-General of the National Federation of Sugar Workers, is right in saying that the
government’s programs for agrarian reform have failed. The plight of the Hacienda Carmelo
Workers Association is not uncommon, making it even more sobering. How can a developing
country like ours mistreat farmers who make it possible for us to have food on our tables?

Disheartening as the situation may seem, the law sometimes works in favor of our
farmers. Farmers of the Pakigdaet sa Kalamboan Workers Association have found out that there
truly is strength in numbers. Previously workers and beneficiaries of Hacienda Sophia Tres,
Magtuod, the members of Pakigdaet sa Kalamboan Workers Association decided to establish an
organization to help them with their case in land ownership and title distribution. It was indeed a
lengthy, messy process, but they eventually accomplished their objective. Now, members of the
association enjoy equal pay, have no problems with their food supply and earn as much as 11
million pesos annually in the best of days.

“Pagkatapos ng Tigkiriwi” presents two different outcomes for the same situation. It tells
us that it is possible for the underprivileged to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. At the same time,
it exposes the tricks and schemes that greedy landowners employ to maintain the status quo.
Indeed, the agriculture sector still has a long way to go in terms of treating our farmers right.