By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – A group of farm workers held a protest action today, March 21, in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform in Quezon City to decry the continuing expansion of plantations in the country instead of providing much-needed subsidies for farm inputs.
In what appears to be a virtual landgrabbing, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura said in a statement that transnational corporations are able to have “effective control over the lands of farmers and ARBs” referring to agrarian reform beneficiaries, through the so-called Agribusiness Ventures Arrangements (AVA).
AVA is one of the non-land transfer schemes allowed in the government agrarian reform program.
Related story: ‘Farmers are misled, ignored in the Philippines’
Representatives of farm workers groups from all over the country gathered for a two-day conference in Quezon City, where they discussed the impacts of the expansion of transnational plantations in the country.
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