Farmers Hold Protest Against Aid for Trade in Geneva!

November 20, 2007
References: Danilo Ramos, Concurrent Secretary General, APC and KMP
Chennaiah Poguri, Deputy Secretary General, APC

Geneva, Switzerland-Peasant leaders and activists conducted a protest action in front of World Trade Organization (WTO) building in Geneva on the first day of the 'Global Review of Aid for Trade' to show their opposition to the Aid for Trade package being peddled by the WTO now since December 2005.

According to Danilo Ramos, concurrent Secretary General of Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) or the Peasant Movement of the Philippines, Aid for Trade is nothing but economic blackmail and another way of circumventing the derailed WTO talks, like the bilaterals and free trade areas. As with other tied aid it would have conditionalities and numerous strings attached.

The Philippine experience with conditional aid is disastrous. Take the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) last loan to the Philippines that had 110 conditionalities which it called "structural reform measures" (a US$1.4 billion stand-by arrangement from 1998-2000). As a result of which and other World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) aid with conditionalities, the Philippines is now among Southeast Asia's most open economies "with the lowest tariffs and least restrictions on foreign investment, next only to Singapore. Since the 1980s, share in GDP of trade has doubled and of foreign investment quadrupled. Now the country is being forced into onerous deals like the Japan Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) and the RP-China Economic Agreements, these two are tied to supposed aid coming from the two countries to the Philippines" said Ramos.

"Yet the Philippines is more backward than ever. The country is de-industrialized and underdeveloped - shrinking share of manufacturing in economy (lower than in 1960s), and more and more foreign-dominated. Agriculture is backward - at historically low levels, rising agricultural trade deficits since mid-1990s, and record dependence on imported food. It has recorded joblessness for over six years, average 11% unemployment, - with 12 million jobless or underemployed Filipinos. There is 9-10 million economic refugees (i.e., overseas Filipino workers). Severe poverty at lowest income levels, disguised by sharpening inequality can not be denied and recently, an 11-year old girl and a farmer committed suicide due to poverty and hunger just earlier this month. In 2003, there are (69) million Filipinos (80% of population) struggle to survive on P96 (US$2) or less a day and there are 46 million Filipinos hungry everyday (by dietary needs)," added the peasant leader.

As for his part Chennaiah Poguri, Deputy Secretary General of APC said, "in India alone more than 125, 000 peasants committed suicide in the span of 5 years (2002-2006) due to landlessness and poverty.

Imperialist globalization through the WTO has really ravaged the lives of peasants and now they are trying to intensify their attack through the Aid for Trade, "If this scheme is not stopped or at least reformed on the terms set by real stake holders like peasants and workers then it will just be another tool of imperialist countries to tighten their strangle hold on developing countries like India and the Philippines. We must all unite to oppose this new trick of neo-liberal globalization", ended Poguri.

APC is an organization of peasants, fisherfolk, agricultural workers, dalits and agricultural women in 9 countries all over Asia and is composed of 15 million members.

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