pagkain sapat dapat - a collective action strategy towards the development of a national food...

01PAGKAIN

SAPAT DAPAT

A Collective Action StrategyTowards the Development of aNational Food Framework Law

in the Philippines

Edited byAurea Miclat-Teves

National Food Coalition91 Madasalin Street, Sikatuna Village

Diliman, Quezon City

PHOTO

02 PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPAT

i

PAGKAINSAPAT DAPATA Collective Action Strategy

Towards the Development of aNational Food Framework Law

in the Philippines

Edited byAurea Miclat-Teves

National Food Coalition91 Madasalin Street, Sikatuna Village

Diliman, Quezon City

ii PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPAT

Published by the National Food Coalition91 Madasalin Street, Sikatuna VillageDiliman, Quezon CityTel. No (02) 351-75553Fax. No. (02) 436-3593

Copyright of Pagkain Sapat Dapat @ 2013 NFC

All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.

ISBN

Cover Artwork: Erick Palo and Mark Russel PaloLay-out: Ramon T. Ayco, Sr.Set in Janson Text LT Std, pt. 12Photos by: Peoples Development Institute & www.google.com

Printed in the Philippines

iii

PAGKAINSAPAT DAPATA Collective Action Strategy

Towards the Development of aNational Food Framework Law

in the Philippines

iv PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPAT

v

Table of Contents

Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiI. Introduction: A Collective Action

Strategy Towards the Development of a NationalFood Framework Law in the Philippines . . . . . . . . . . 1

by Aurea Miclat-TevesII. Declaration of the First National Conference

on the Right to AdequateFood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

III. National Food Coalition Membership Steering Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Member Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23IV. Proceedings of the National Conference

on the Right to Adequate Food: A Collective Action for Policy Reform . . . . . . . . . . . 29

V. Summary Review: An Assessment of thePhilippine Legal Framework Governing the Right to Adequate Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

by Maria Socorro DioknoVI. Assessment of the Philippine Social

Protection Floor Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 by Bread for the World

VII. Annexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 Annex I Compilation of news clippings

of NFC Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377Annex II Voluntary Guidelines on the

Responsible Governance of Tenureof Land, Fisheries and Forests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

vi PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPAT

vii

Foreword

viii PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPAT

ix

Foreword:

Interest in participation by the rural poor for a collective action strategy towards the development of a National Food Framework law in the Philippines has been a growing concern. In fact, it is now moving to occupy centre stage in development debates.

This book looks into the need for the Philippines to have a National Food Framework law and how this need gave birth to the National Food Coalition (NFC).

The NFC believes in total human development grounded on the existence of adequate space for political and economic participation, respect for the environment, and protection of basic freedoms. This development is rooted in the historical and current context of Philippine society where the marginalized sectors have suffered from economic inequality, social injustice and environmental degradation. It recognizes the functional and differentiated roles of government, civil society and market institutions and the fundamental role of government to respect, protect and fulfill the right to adequate food and other human rights.

The NFC envisions a cohesive and harmonious Philippine society. It is a human rights coalition that is the Philippines lead advocate for the right to adequate food.

While the Philippines is a signatory to international conventions on human rights, there are no existing

Foreword

x PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPAT

instruments to ensure that the state will fulfill the peoples right to adequate food. This book further discusses the summary review of the assessment of the Philippine Legal Framework governing the right to adequate food by Miss Maria Socorro Diokno including the assessment of the Philippine Social Protection Floor Policies conducted by Bread for the World.

The work on the Right to Food in the Philippines is a collaboration of FIAN-Philippines, Peoples Development Institute (PDI), Alternative Forum for Research in Mindanao (AFRIM) and Philippine Human Rights Information Center (Philrights) with Bread for the World.

In this regard, we are grateful to the contribution of Dr. Flavio Valente of FIAN International for his inspirational support and dedication in providing guidance to the NFC.

Mr. Martin Remppis of Bread for the World who provided support and assistance in our endeavor.

To the Steering Committee, headed by Aurea Miclat-Teves, together with Mr. Max de Mesa, Mr. Ricardo Reyes, Ms. Nymia Simbulan and Ms. Elvira Quintela.

I would like to acknowledge the commitment and contribution of the resource speakers in the development of the papers and their objective recommendations for a collective action strategy towards a national food framework law.

I would like to thank FIAN-Philippines and PDI personnel for helping in all the phases of the NFC work.

xi

Finally, it is with gratitude that I would like to thank the NFC members for starting this movement towards a collective action strategy for policy reform.

This book is dedicated to the NFC members for their undying service to the growth and development of the Filipino people.

Aurea Miclat-Teves ConvenorNational Food Coalition

Foreword

xii PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPAT

1

Introduction

A Collective Action StrategyTowards the Development of aNational Food Framework Law

in the Philippines

3

Introduction:

A Collective Action Strategy towards the Development of a National Food Framework Law

in the Philippines

By Aurea Miclat-Teves1

In the human rights framework, the right to food stands as a basic right that makes the state accountable to the people with regard to ensuring their food and nutrition. As a matter of policy, the Philippine government must aim at ensuring the Right to Adequate Food (RTAF) of all Filipinos.

In reality, Filipinos suffer from inadequate food primarily due to lack of access to land and other productive resources in the country. Many Filipinos are even displaced from their lands due to violent armed conflicts and landgrabbing. Large agricultural lands are also transformed for commercial or real estate purposes.

The Need for a Legal Framework

The Philippine Constitution does not explicitly recognize the right to adequate food and there also is no

1. Aurea Miclat-Teves is the President of FIAN Philippines and former vice president of FIAN International. She is the founder and executive director of the Peoples Development Institute, an organization working on asset reform and rural development for peasants and indigenous communities. She is an expert on rural development work and has written extensively on the rights-based approach to governance, specifically asset reform.

Introduction


appropriate national legal framework governing the right to adequate food.

The laws on food accessibility, availability and safety remain insufficient in practice. The national human rights commission has a limited mandate that is mainly concerned with civil and political rights.

Because there is no national legal framework on the right to food, the food programs employed by the government remain inadequate as the government could neither comprehensively implement nor administer an integrated plan or program that will address the root cause of hunger because of the absence of an executing law on the right to adequate food.

Hunger and extreme poverty are the most important challenges that our national leaders need to address by formulating a coherent legal framework on RTAF and by crafting a national food policy.

National Food Coalition

Various national social movements and non-government organizations have come together to push the Government to establish a coherent legal framework that recognizes and protects the right to food, including the development of a national food policy.

Such policy against hunger will ensure the availability, accessibility and adequacy of food. From the development stage until its implementation, the legal framework on the right to adequate food shall

5Introduction

have the full and active participation of relevant stakeholders, especially those most vulnerable to hunger.

As part of this push, civil society organizations in the Philippines created the National Food Coalition (NFC) in the latter part of 2012. The NFC, led by FIAN-Philippines, is composed of over 50 organizations. It was formed to address current shortcomings by State agencies in fighting hunger.

The NFC brought together different actors as it tackled issues surrounding the current state of poverty and deprivation in relation to rural development, environmentally sustainable growth and redistributive justice.

The NFC was born out of the need of all sectors in the Philippines to respond to the growing hunger and impoverishment in the country. Its goal is to challenge the government to integrate the various Philippine policies on RTAF into a national framework and to develop change strategies that will impact on economic growth and rural development.

The NFC is the first coalition in the Philippines to bring together people from different sectors of society in developing a legal framework for the RTAF. There is a need to bring different types of organizations together because hunger can only be solved through a simultaneous, multi-sectoral approach, answering problems of employment, health, lack of access to land and other resources. The NFC, with the help of grassroots organizations, was able to identify the problems at the ground level.


Conference on the right to adequate food

The NFC held its first national conference last February 2013 entitled The Right to Adequate Food: A Collective Action for Policy Reform.2 Representatives from different sectors participated in the conference, including: human rights activists, rural development advocates, pro-environmental groups, indigenous peoples, peasant leaders, urban poor activists, and various representatives of national government agencies and the academe.

The conference proclaimed the coalitions commitment to the basic and universal human right to food. The participants expressed their determination to claim this right for every citizen, especially children, in the Philippines, as well as the whole world.3

It called on the government to recognize the States obligation to secure the right to adequate food for its citizens. It urged the Philippine government to draft and approve a National Framework Law on the Right to Food in the Philippines and ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which would then lead to the drafting and approval thereof.4

The NFC conference urged for the full and active participation of all actors concerned, including those most vulnerable to hunger, in the crafting of the National Food Framework Law.

2 See Declarat ion at http://www.f ian.org/f i leadmin/media/publicat ions/2013.03_NFC_Phil ippines_Declarat ion.pdf

3 Declaration of the First National Conference on the Right to Adequate Food (27-28 Feb. 2013, Quezon City)

4 Ibid.

7Introduction

The conference participants approved what should be the main contents of the framework law as presented by Ms. Maria Socorro Diokno. The law should have: a) a clear Declaration of Policy; b) Specific targets or goals; c) Strategies or methods to achieve its targets or goals; d) Institutional Responsibility and Mechanisms; e) Avenues for Recourse; and g) a National Mechanism for Monitoring.

The process of coming up with a national framework law entails the NFC to use two approaches. The first is building consensus and support for a framework law, and second is the adoption of the law. In both approaches, the NFC will consciously and conscientiously apply the PANTHER principles5, backed by a thorough analysis of the issue of hunger and poverty, using the human rights based approach. The NFC has also mounted a campaign around the right to food while adopting multiple strategies in raising public awareness and preparing activities that will generate mass participation.

Raising awareness

Coalition members have already employed collective-action strategies even before the formal establishment of the NFC. There was awareness-building and conscientization and information dissemination on the RTAF. Individuals and groups that have been conscientized on the basic human rights principles that applied to food later joined the NFC in realizing the right to adequate food.

5 Participation, Autonomy, Non-discrimination, Transparency, Human dignity, Empowerment, Rule of law.


Moved by the awareness campaign, more than 300 people representing the different sectors indigenous peoples, peasants, urban poor, members of the academe, individual advocates convened at the University of the Philippines to launch the NFC on October 15, 2012, the eve of World Food Day. The event was initiated with a march-demonstration by the participants calling for adequate food for all, a cultural program, poster-making competition on hunger, and the signing of an Open Letter to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. The letter to the President contained the demands of the NFC to: 1) give central importance and support to farmers and their concerns; 2) promote organic rice production; 3) face and take action against damages caused by climate change; and 4) respect, protect and fulfill the rights of farmers and IPs.

After its launch, the NFC became active in raising awareness on the right to adequate food. Its steering committee began translating into Filipino several key documents and education materials such as the Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Adequate Food. The NFC also hosted local consultations around the country and conducted problem-focused group discussions on core RTAF issues and unified efforts to facilitate a progressive realization of RTAF.

The results of these efforts can be seen in the publications of the NFC such as The Summary Review of the Philippine Legal Framework Governing the RTAF and Asserting the Human Right to Food: Local Initiatives to Access Land and Natural Resources for Sustainable Food Security in the Philippines.

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Key documents that have been translated include the Selected International Human Rights Instruments: Isinalin sa Pilipino. Also, there is now a compilation of the proceedings of the NFC conference.

Aside from publications, the NFC also conducted four workshops for RTAF purposes in two of the three major islands of the Philippines Luzon and Mindanao. The results of the workshops were discussed thoroughly in the National Food Conference.

The RTAF workshops were participated in by indigenous peoples, farmers and urban poor. These awareness workshops discussed the issues and problems, possible solutions and aspirations of the participants with regards to food.

The purpose of these workshops is not only to inform vulnerable members of society, but also to validate the steps to be taken by the NFC in its fight against hunger.

The participants have pointed out the different reasons for inadequate food such as lack of access to land and productive resources, unemployment, lack of unity among community or family members, and the problems that result from the non-consultative nature of the local government units in addressing the peoples need for livelihood or in the implementation of government projects. Aside from these common factors, violence and conflict in their community, theft or robbery of food and the wrong recipients of government programs are the other causes of the lack of access to food.

The participants said that employment, access to land and resources, alternative livelihood, education for the people and transparency in the implementation

Introduction


of government projects will help them achieve their aspirations of a happy and healthy family and community with food always on their tables.

Building public accountability

During the conference, the NFC published a challenge to the national and local candidates in the countrys May 13 elections on how they, as leaders and legislators, once elected, can make food security a reality in the Philippines.6

Senatorial bets have reacted to the recent government survey on poverty and hunger incidence in the country.7 One senatorial aspirant said that the current administration can alleviate poverty by investing in education and working with economic sectors to address job mismatch. He said that the government should focus on creating jobs to sustain Filipino workers and not merely implement stop-gap measures.8 He also said being deprived of the opportunity to earn, particularly for those in the agriculture sector, the poor could not afford basic goods due to high prices.9

6 Bets challenged to take on hunger problem by Jonathan Mayuga, published in Business Mirror, April 25, 2013 http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/news/nation/12613-bets-challenged-to-take-on-hunger-problem

7 Poverty data doubted, but... by Aurea Calica, Rhodina Villanueva, Jose Rodel Clapano, Delon Porcalla, Marvin Sy, published in The Philippine Star, April 26, 2013: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/04/26/935043/poverty-data-doubted-...

8 Ibid.9 Ibid.

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A former senator seeking to return to the Senate said that social inequality grows more rampant as years progress.10 Another candidate said that making education accessible to all, plus job generation are keys to poverty alleviation.11

Population growth must be taken into consideration in poverty alleviation as the number of Filipinos drastically increased in recent years, one incumbent senator said. Health care services and conditional cash transfer programs should be further developed, he added.12

The responses of the candidates to the issue of hunger and poverty are both a recognition of the urgent need to address poverty and hunger and the timeliness of pushing for a National Food Framework Law in accordance with the right to adequate food in the new Philippine Congress. The responses also show the need for capacity building measures in promoting the RTAF not only for the Filipino public but also for government and elected officials who will be responsible for formulating a national food policy.

10 Ibid.11 Ibid12 Ibid.

Introduction

13Introduction

Deklarasyon ngUnang Pambansang Kumperensyasa Karapatan sa Sapat na Pagkain

Declaration of theFirst National Conference

on the Right to Adequate Food

15

DEKLARASYON NG UNANG PAMBANSANG KUMPERENSYA

SA KARAPATAN SA SAPAT NA PAGKAIN27-28 Pebrero 2013

Quezon City, Metro Manila

(Declaration of the First National Conferenceon the Right to Adequate Food

27-28 February 2013Quezon City, Metro Manila)

Malaya kaming nagtipon ngayon kaming galing sa hanay ng mga magbubukid, manggagawa, katutubo, komunidad sa lunsod, kababaihan at kabataan, kaming mula sa Bangsa Moro at Cordillera, kaming nabibilang sa ibat ibang propesyon at NGO upang itanghal ang BATAYAN AT UNIBERSAL NA KARAPATANG PANTAO SA SAPAT NA PAGKAIN, at pagtibayin ang aming determinasyong makamtam ang karapatang ito sa buhay ng bawat mamamayan at bata sa Pilipinas, gayundin sa buong mundo.

(We gather here today peasants, workers, urban community residents, women and youth, from Bangsa Moro and Cordillera, from the professions and NGOs to proclaim our commitment to the BASIC AND UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHT TO FOOD, and express our determination to claim this right for every citizen and child in our country, the Philippines, as well as in the whole world.)

Higit kailanman sa buhay ng ating bayan at bansa, ang karapatang ito sa sapat na pagkain at karapatang mabuhay ay dapat itaguyod at ipaglaban hanggang ganap na

Deklarasyon ng Unang Pambansang Kumperensya


makamtan. Mga dambuhalang kapangyarihang global at pambansa , at mga galamay nila sa lokalidad, ang walang habas na kumakamkam ng ating lupain, katubigan, at puhunan mga pinagmumulan ng ating pagkain at ikabubuhay upang magkamal ng limpak-limpak na tubo at pribilehiyo, kahit na kumitil pa ng maraming buhay o alisan ng dignidad ang buhay ng nakararami, at kahit na masira pang lalo ang ating kapaligiran, at magpabilis sa paggunaw ang ating planeta.

(At no other time in the history of our country has it become more imperative to fight for the right to adequate food and the right to life. Powerful global and national forces and their local minions have been relentlessly dispossessing us of our lands, rivers and lakes, capital and livelihood means to secure our food and sustain our lives to amass monstrous superprofits and privileges, no matter if lives are lost or deprived of dignity, or if the environment is further laid to waste, and our planet pushed further toward extinction.)

Sa ilalim ng globalisasyong may tatlong sungay liberalisasyon, deregulasyon at pagsasapribado ng mga kabuhayan at larangang publiko ang bawat tagumpay na nakakamit ng pakikibaka ng mamamayan sa karapatan sa lupa at pangisdaan, sa pagtatanggol ng lupang ninuno, sa pagsusulong ng karapatan at benepisyo sa paggawa, sa pabahay, kalusugan at edukasyon, ang bawat abanse para sa pantay na karapatan ng kababaihan at pangangalaga sa mga bata mga karapatang kaugnay ng karapatan sa sapat na pagkain ay pwersahang binabawi hanggang mabalewa.

(Under globalization with its triad of liberalization, deregulation and privatization, every gain our struggles

17

achieved in promoting land and fishery rights, defending ancestral domain, advancing the rights to work, housing, health and education, every step forward for equal rights to women and the care of our children rights that are directly connected to the right to adequate food are being cancelled out.)

Sa kabila nito, ang gubyerno ng Pilipinas ay nananatiling lampa at mahina sa pagtataguyod ng karapatan sa sapat na pagkain at sa iba pang karapatang tao ng kanyang mamamayan. Sa halip na maninindigan, bumibigay siya sa presyur at dikta ng mga global na korporasyon at bangko at mga gubyernong nagpoprotekta ng mga interes na ito.

(And yet, the Philippine government has proved to be a weakling in promoting the right to adequate food and other human rights of its citizens. Instead of standing up to the pressures and dictates of global corporations and banks and their protector governments, the Philippine government always buckles down.)

Hindi tayo patatalo. Mula sa maliliit na tagumpay, susulong tayo sa mas malalaking tagumpay. Paulit-ulit nating idedeklara at igigiit, sa ibat ibang larangan, sa ibat ibang paraan na:

(We shall overcome. From small victories, we shall move to bigger ones. Without fail, we will declare and assert in every field of struggle, in every way that:)

Ang karapatan sa sapat na pagkain ay isang batayang karapatan ng tao, na nasa pusod ng karapatang mabuhay ng bawat tao.(The right to adequate food is a basic human right, which is at the core of the right of the human being to life.)



Ang karapatan sa sapat na pagkain ay dugtungan ng karapatan sa lupa, tubig, trabaho, edukasyon, kalusugan at pabahay-- mga karapatan sa sapat at maayos na pamumuhay(The right to adequate food is closely intertwined with the right to land, water, work, education, health and housing the right to adequate standard of living )

Na para maisakatuparan ito, ang Estado ang may pangunahing obligasyon na irespeto, protektahan at isakatuparan ang mga karapatang pantaong ito(To realize this right, the State has the principal obligation to respect, protect and fulfill these human rights)

Na sa paggampan ng Estado sa tungkulin nitong progresibo o hakbang-hakbang na isakatuparan ang mga ito, dapat nitong sundin ang PANTHER principles partisipasyon (participation), pananagutan (accountability), walang diskriminasyon ( non-discrimination ), pagiging bukas (transparency), pagsasakapangyarihan ( empowerment )at Pagpapairal sa Batas (Rule of Law).(For the State to perform these obligations in a progressive and step-by-step manner, it should follow the PANTHER principles participation, accountability, non- discrimination, transparency, empowerment and rule of law.)

Kaalinsabay, ilalaban din namin ang mga pagbabago sa istruktura ng lipunan, ekonomiya at pulitika ng bansa. Ito ay magbabago ng relasyon ng kapangyarihan at magbibigay ng institusyunal na balangkas para sa progresibong realisasyon ng karapatan sa sapat na pagkain at kadugtong na karapatang tao.

19

(Meanwhile, we shall fight for structural changes in society, the economy and politics of the nation. This will change the power relations and will provide the institutional framework for the progressive realization of the right to adequate food and other human rights.)

Tungo rito, ikakampanya natin para iratipika ng gubyerno ng Pilipinas ang Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Sasabayan natin ito ng pagsisikap na mabuo at mapagtibay ng gubyerno ang isang National Framework Law on the Right to Food.

(To this end, we shall urge the government of the Philippines to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This will be accompanied by efforts to push the government to craft and approve a National Framework Law on the Right to Food.)

Mula sa kumperensyang ito, babalik tayo sa ating mga komunidad, sektor, organisasyon at institusyon para magpalaganap ng ating paninindigan at magparami. Mas marami, mas malakas, mas malapit sa tagumpay!

(From this conference, we shall return to our communities, sectors, organizations and institutions to make known our position and to gather supporters. The more numerous we are, the stronger we shall be, and the closer we will be to victory!)


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National Food Coalition Membership

23National Food Coalition

Steering Committee: Convenor Aurea Teves FIAN Philippines Ricardo Reyes PDI Max de Mesa Philrights Nymia Simbulan AFRIM Elvira Quintela

NFC Member Organizations

Member NGOs:

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)Central Visayas Farmers Development Center

(FARDEC)Envi - Watchers and MoversIndigenous Peoples Apostolate (IPA)Integrative Medicine for Alternative Healthcare Systems

(INAM) Philippines, Inc.Kasarian-Kalayaan (SARILAYA)Kayang-Kaya ni Misis (KKM)Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KPD)Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan

(PKKK)Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates

(PAHRA)Rural Poor Institute for Land and Human Rights

Services (RIGHTS)Unified Peoples Institute for Community Organization

Building (UPICOB), Inc.United Youth of the Philippines -Women, Inc.

(UnYphil)Pasig Libre

NFC Membership


Member POs:

Agraryang Reporma Samahang Kababaihan (ARSK)Barangay Anunas Farmers AssociationBorac Farmers AssociationBuklod ng Kaunlaran PMPCBukluran ng mga Katutubo sa Luzon (BUKAL)Burac Womens Association (BWA)Casareal Multi-Purpose CooperativeCasareal Womens Organization (CWO)Doa Josefa Womens AssociationKapatirang Kapitbahay ng KaybanbanKASAMAPA FederationKaybanban Farmers Association (KFA)Kaybanban Women Association (KW)Lumad sa MindanaoMakakasibbul Tribal AssociationManganese Womens AssociationMargot Farmers Multi-Purpose CooperativeMinanga Farmers AssociationNagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Pasambot (NKP)Nagkakaisang Kababaihang Ayta ng PinatuboNagkakaisang Magsasaka ng Gitnang Luzon (NMGL)Nagkakaisang Samahang Magsasakang Kababaihan sa

ZambalesNagkakaisang Samahan ng mga Katutubong Ayta sa

Kinaragan (NASAKA-K)Nauzon Upland Peasant Peoples OrganizationNauzon Womens AssociationPagkakaisa ng mga Kababaihang Ayta ng BotolanPagkakaisa ng mga Samahang Magsasaka ng BotolanPagkakaisa ng mga Samahang Magsasakang Kababaihan

ng Luzon (PASAMAKA-L)

25

PASAMAKA-AyalaPASAMAKA-Sto. RosarioPinag-isang Lakas ng mga Katutubong Ayta sa Matalangao

at Ulingan (PILAKMU)Pintol Womens AssociationSA3KSIMASagana Mothers ClubSamahang Magkakapitbahay ng Kaybanban

(SAMABAKA), Inc.Samahan ng mga Nagkakaisang Batilyo (SNB)Samahang Bagong Silang ng Brgy. BuenavistaSamahang Kababaihan ng AmunganSamahang Kababaihan ng KabisigSamahang Kababaihan sa MarupoSamahang Kababaihan sa PayapatSamahang Kababaihan sa TurdaSamahang Kabataan ng KinaraganSamahang Katutubo ng Masikap KababaihanSamahang Katutubo ng Poonbato (SKP)Samahang Maghahalaman ng San JuanSamahang Magsasaka at Mangingisda ng Kahawangan

Baloganon (SAMMAKAB)Samahang Magsasaka ng Kaybanban CooperativeSamahang Magsasaka ng Sitio MarupoSamahang Magsasaka ng Togue TaltalSamahang Magsasaka ng TurdaSamahan ng mga Katutubong Ayta sa BiaanSamahan ng Tagbanuang Kababaihan sa Sitio MaralitenSan Isidro Womens AssociationSan Joseph Womens AssociationSKA-KinaraganTri-People Federation MindanaoUnited Navotas Workers Association (UNAWA)

NFC Membership


Affiliated organizations:

NGOs

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearance (AFAD)

Centro Saka, IncCoconut Industry Reform Movement, Inc. (COIR)Cordillera Womens Education Action Resource Center

(CWEARC)ESCR-AsiaFree Legal Assistance Group (FLAG)Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)Integrated Development Program for Indigenous Peoples (IDPIP)Kampanya para sa Makataong Pamumuhay (KAMP)Katinnulong Daguiti Umili ti Amianan (KADUAMI)Montaosa Research and Development Center, Inc. (MRDC)National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)Negros Center for People Empowerment and Rural

Development (NCPERD)Negros Initiatives for Rural Development, Inc. (NIRD)Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM)Philippine Task Force of Indigenous Peoples Concerns (TFIP)Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (SIBAT)Streetchildren Development Center (SDC)Sulong CarhrihlVisayas Mindanao Regional Office for Development (VIMROD)Woman Health Philippines

POs

Highlander Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative (HARBEMCO)

Katipunan ng Bagong Pilipina (KABAPA)Pambansang Kaisahan ng Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (PKMP)Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Samahan sa Kanayunan

(PKSK)PARAGOS-PilipinasTribal Upland Farmers Association (TUFA)

29

Proceedings of the National Conference on the Right to Adequate Food:

A Collective Action for Policy ReformA. Pagkain Sapat Dapat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31B. Inputs

1. Sufficient Food for All. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35by Aurea Miclat-Teves

2. International Perspective: The Global Debates on RTAFand Social Protection and its International Obligations . . . . . . . 43by Martin Remppis

3. The Rights Based Approach to Food Security andNutrition: The Case of Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53by Flavio Valiente

4. Learning From Practice: Determining NeedsRTAF Situation in the Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67by Aurea Miclat-Teves

C. Panel Discussion I1. Agrarian Reform and the Right to Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

by Ricardo Reyes2. Right to Food, Food Security and Rice Sufficiency . . . . . . . 89

by Romeo Royandoyan3. Gender and the Right to Adequate Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

by Patricia GonzalesD. Panel Discussion II

1. Social Protection and the Right to Adequate Food . . . . . . 115by Dr. Nymia Pimentel-Simbulan

2. Climate Change and Food Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123by Dr. Laura David

E. Panel Discussion III1. Towards a National Food Framework Law for the Philippines . . .130

by Maria Socorro Diokno2. Engaging Government to Implement RTAF:

The Role of HRBA in Capacity Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137by Max de Mesa

F. Regional Reporting1. Report on the Regional Workshops on RTAF . . . . . . . . . . . 156

by Elvira QuintelaG. Workshop Results

1. Assessment of Vulnerable Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1622. Advocacy and Litigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1653. Monitoring of State Performance on Different Levels . . . .1674. Recourse Instruments/Complaint Redressal Mechanisms . . . 1705. Naming and Shaming through Actions + Media . . . . . . . . . 175

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PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPAT

Proceedings of the National Conferenceon the Right to Adequate Food:

A Collective Action for Policy Reform

Organized by theNational Food Coalition

Sulo Riviera Hotel, Diliman, Quezon CityFebruary 27-28, 2013

Day OneThe National Conference on the Right to Adequate Food: A Collective Action for Policy Reform was formally opened with inter-faith prayers and offerings from leaders representing Islam, Christian and Indigenous Peoples. This was followed by the welcome remarks of Ms. Aurea G. Miclat-Teves, President of FoodFirst Information and Action Network-Philippines (FIAN-Philippines). The first day of the conference was facilitated by Dean Rosalinda Ofreneo of the University of the Philippines - College of Social Work and Community Development (UP-CSWCD) during the morning session and Atty. Ricardo Sunga of Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) in the afternoon.

Proceedings of the National Conference


Welcome Remarks:

In behalf of the National Food Coalition composed of more than 50 organizations and federations with more than 10,000 members, and the NFC Steering Committee represented by FIAN-Philippines, PDI, Philrights and AFRIM, I would like to welcome you to this historic opportunity for us to learn how to recast government policies to address our right to adequate food (RTAF). We would also like to invite you to become active participants and members of the NFC in our struggle to fight for our right to adequate food.

I would like to welcome Dr. Flavio Valente and Ms. Yifang Tang of FIAN-IS and our friend from BFW-ED, Mr. Martin Remppis, whose commitment and dedication to RTAF cannot be measured.

The National Food Coalition was born out of the need of all the sectors in Philippine society to respond to the growing hunger and impoverishment in the country.

There have been scant discussions on policy reform on RTAF and the role of politics and power in explaining the vulnerability of the poor rural communities to hunger and

Aurea Miclat-Teves

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malnutrition. Discussions are left wanting because they fail to engage the strategic issue of RTAF and the reform agenda to define who holds the power and how the balance of political forces in rural areas can advance or retard significant change.

The conference aims to address this serious deficit by restoring the emphasis on the power relations that increase the economic and political uncertainties and the multiple risks associated with unclear policies and unresolved property rights in rural areas, and how these in turn heightens the vulnerability of the rural poor to hunger and malnutrition, directly affected by environmental and climate change.

The principal objective is to create a forum for assessing and learning from the collective actions of peasants and IPs at the ground level and the urban poor and other civil society groups at the urban centers, learn from the Brazil experience with regard to our struggle for the right to adequate food.

Specifically, the conference would like to define the next step process for the national platform on RTAF, formulate an RTAF Campaign, learn from the experiences of other countries and present a summary report of what has been done by the coalition.

The broader goal is to understand how the various Philippine policies on RTAF can be integrated into a national policy framework and to develop change strategies that will impact on the larger issues of economic growth for rural and urban development

To show the glaring reality on the RTAF situation in the Philippines, please watch this video presentation.

Video Presentation: Chicken ala Carte


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Input:SUFFICIENT FOOD FOR All

By Aurea G. Miclat-TevesConvenor, National Food Coalition

President, FIAN Philippines

President, Peoples Development Institute (PDI)

Our conference comes at a very opportune time.In three months, we will be electing our local

executives and the members of Congress our representatives and senators.

Many issues are being raised by candidates competing for our votes. Some say they deserve our support for championing reproductive health, some for freedom of information, others for wage increases and agrarian reform, and there are those who say they will end political dynasties, etc. etc.

These are all well and good. But as our groups are concerned with the right to adequate food, we would like to know what these candidates have to say about food security and how they, as our leaders and legislators, once elected, can make this a reality in the Philippines in our lifetime.

The Aquino administration is in the final half of its term and it is seeking our votes in the local and congressional elections to support its candidates that will back its programs until the president steps down in 2016. As it winds up its reform program, we need to make the administration aware of the urgency of crafting a national food policy before it bows out of



office. The crucial element in any platform to improve the lives of Filipinos is assuring food security for the nation - or providing adequate food that is accessible to all, especially to the poor in the rural and urban areas.

This challenge is especially directed to the candidates for congressmen and senators. They are the ones who will legislate a national food policy at the direction of the administration whose leadership in this regard must be clearly seen and felt. We must, therefore, determine which candidates have made themselves informed of the issues involved in regard to food security and are going to take the correct steps to address this problem and approach it from the right perspective.

Hunger Haunts

So what is the food situation? This is graphically described by the hunger incidence.

The latest survey by the Social Weather Stations on hunger shows that the hunger rate has come down from 21 % in the third quarter of 2012 to 16.3 % in the fourth quarter. That means the number of families who have experienced involuntary hunger, or having had nothing to eat at least once in the past three months, went down from 4.3 million in the third quarter to 3.3 million in the fourth quarter. That translates to roughly 16.5 million individuals, based on an average family size of five. That is roughly the population of Holland and about three times the population of Singapore.

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Looking further into the SWS reports from 1998 to 2012, however, we find that hunger has steadily risen nationwide. In 1998, the average incidence of hunger in the National Capital Region was 8.1%; it more than doubled to 22.9% in 2012. In the rest of Luzon, it increased from 9.9% to 17.8%; in the Visayas, it rose from 11.3% to14.6%; in Mindanao it was 14.5%, increasing to 26.3%. Over this period, moderate to severe hunger almost doubled to 19.9 % in 2012 from 11% in 1998.

During these years, the official Philippine population figure rose from 60.7 million in 1990 to 76.51 million in 2000 to 92.34 million in 2010. As our population steadily expanded, so did the number of hungry Filipinos while undernourishment declined only slowly. Hunger has been haunting the nation under the various administrations since the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos - from Ramos six years, Estradas aborted term, Arroyos nearly 10 years in office, and half of Aquinos term. Is there hope that the 16th Congress can improve the situation?

Food is Life

Food, like air and water, is a basic human entitlement that no one can live without. It is a personal and a human right. To regard food more as a need than a right will subject it to the usual resource constraints that will make it compete with bureaucratic priorities, which, in the end, will make it undeliverable in timely



and sufficient amounts. The right to adequate food is no less than the right to life.

There are three important elements of the right to food. Food should be adequate, available and accessible.

The state is primarily responsible for ensuring that its people have access to enough, nutritious, and safe food so that they can enjoy healthy and productive lives. Access entails providing physical facilities and the economic means to obtain food. In the human rights framework in which food is a basic right, the states duties and obligations make it a duty bearer, which implies accountability.

The right to food implies three types of state obligations - the obligation to respect, protect and to fulfill. These were defined in General Comment 12 by the Committee on ESCR and endorsed by states when the FAO Council adopted the Right to Food Guidelines (Voluntary Guidelines) in November 2004.

As a national policy, the Philippines should aim at ensuring food security, self-sufficiency and freedom from hunger for all Filipinos.

The Legal Framework

An assessment of the Philippine Legal framework, or PLF, and the available recourse mechanisms, national human rights institutions, law-making processes, and awareness of the right to adequate food indicate that it falls short of the imperatives for realizing the right to food. It does not sufficiently

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incorporate human rights obligations arising from the right to food, including the states obligation of international cooperation.

Various existing laws on food, food safety, availability, and accessibility are incoherent and not complementary and sometimes conflict with each other. Their analysis of the different policies related to food focused mainly on the three parameters - availability, accessibility and safety.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution does not explicitly recognize the right to adequate food but there is recognition inferred from several provisions and constitutional intent. Article II seeks improvement of the quality of life and social justice while Article III covers agrarian reform and rights of subsistence fishermen.

National Food Policy

Before any policy is crafted, the government must first recognize its own shortcomings. The Asia Pacific Policy Center study on the legal framework on the right to food of vulnerable sectors found the following:

Government agencies are still largely unaware of their obligations in relation to the right to food. A national survey also found that awareness and perception among the public regarding their right to food varies by income class and educational attainment -- the higher the educational attainment, the higher the awareness of the right to food.



The right to food is among the countrys lowest priority areas for national spending, while debt service payments account for one of the largest shares of the national budget.

The existing food legal framework does not enhance physical access to food, especially for those most vulnerable to hunger, plus the laws on availability need to be harmonized.

The food legal framework does not sufficiently address human rights obligations arising from the right to food and falls short of the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of Food Security.

Special laws and regulations for those most vulnerable to hunger or in special situations (i.e., children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and persons with HIV/AIDS) influence the hunger situation of these special groups.

The laws governing food prices do not significantly mitigate hunger, while laws governing wages and employment are generally unfavorable to workers; other laws relating to income generating opportunities are generally flawed.

The laws governing access to credit influence the hunger situation in limited ways since they do not actually enlarge access to credit.

The food safety laws recognize the notion of safe food that meets dietary needs although

41

they may not directly contribute to alleviating hunger.

In view of the findings, the National Food Coalition last year recommended taking three crucial steps to respond to these shortcomings:

1. Adopt a national food policy, with the full and active participation of all actors concerned, including those most vulnerable to hunger.

2. Use the national food policy to rationalize the legal framework governing food by synchronizing laws, addressing contradiction in policy objectives correcting flaws and ambiguities, repealing laws that obstruct the realization of the RTAF, aligning the budget to the national food policy, enhancing the mandates of the national human rights institutions and improving the process of law making.

3. Develop capacity with regard to the RTAF, and promote the rights-based approach to establish and implement the national policy governing the RTAF for all and to monitor the states HR accountability.

Addressing hunger and extreme poverty is the most important policy challenge for our leaders. The members of the 16th Congress have their work cut out for them and the first order of business may be to formulate a coherent legal framework for the right to adequate food and to craft a National Food Policy.


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Input:INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE:

THE GLOBAL DEBATES ON RTAF ANDSOCIAL PROTECTION AND ITS

INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

By Mr. Martin RemppisBread for the World

1. Mr. Martin Remppis opened the discussion on his topic with the worldwide dimensions of hunger. Based on FAO-statistics, there are 868 million people suffering from chronic hunger in the world. Approximately, 25,000 die of hunger every day. With this approximated death figure are 16,000 children. Thus, there is a child dying of hunger every five seconds in the world.


Mr. Martin Remppis

45Proceedings of the National Conference


2. Based on various researches on the phenomenon of hunger in the world, it was found that:A) More rural poor suffer from hunger than urban poor. B) Women and girls are much more affected by

hunger than men and boys. C) Social exclusion and discrimination of people is

the main reason for hunger (Indigenous peoples, minorities, etc), and

D) Those who have limited self-help capacities (elderly, people with disability, etc.) suffer hunger first.

3. Based on international laws, States have the obligation to progressively realize all economic, social and cultural rights. This progressive realization contains the different types or levels of state obligations to respect, protect and fulfill. Respect-bound obligation means that the State must not hinder ones access to food. Protect-bound obligation requires the State to act and prevent third party entities from hindering ones access to food, while its fulfill-bound obligation mandates the State to realize the right to food for everyone.

4. The obligation to fulfil can be disaggregated into three different obligations: a) The obligation to facilitate requires the state to take positive measures to assist individuals and communities to enjoy the right; b)The obligation to promote obliges the state to take steps to ensure that there is appropriate education and information concerning the right (this is, however, not mentioned in the General Comment No. 12 of the Right to Adequate Food); the obligation to provide requires the state to ensure the enjoyment of the right by the availability of food supply or the financial possibility to purchase food.


5. On the recent debate on the Access to Resources in which right to food is primary, the Committee on Food Security (CFS) approved the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security in May 2012. This is a new tool for governments and civil society organizations to address land issues. A download is available under: www.fao.org

In the same period, the International Labour Conference adopted ILO Recommendation Concerning National Floors of Social Protection. This is a new tool for governments and civil society organizations to address basic social security. The document can be downloaded under: www.ilo.org. NGOs that were involved in the drafting of the ILO-

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Recommendations formed the platform Coalition for Social Protection Floor (SPF Coalition).

In October last year, the Committee on Food Security (CFS) endorsed the Policy Recommendations regarding Social Protection for Food Security and Nutrition (download under www.fao.org)

At the same time, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier de Schutter and the UN Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Magdalena Seplveda Carmona called for the creation of a Global Fund for Social Protection (GFSP). This call gained the support of the European Parliament.

Open Forum:

Dr. Ofreneo: Hunger is a rural phenomenon yet the trend in the Philippines is urban development. Thus, the Philippines is dealing more with the urban hunger phenomenon. What is your comment on this?

Martin Remppis: The problems in the rural and urban areas are linked. Most of our perception, even with those in the international community is urban-biased. The studies leading to conclusion that hunger phenomenon is rural does not mean to neglect urban hunger. It is just to show that the percentage is higher in the rural than that in the urban areas.



Victoria Navida (DSWD):

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Philippines is using the National Household Targeting System in identifying people to serve especially those experiencing hunger. We are also using this tool to reduce hunger in the country. Our department will hold consultations on the result of the recent vulnerability survey using this system and I am inviting members of the civil society organizations to participate in these events.

Conchita Masin: Destruction of the environment leads to severe hunger in the country. This is aggravated by mismanagement of our officials. Good governance and environmental effects must be factored in the discussion.

Martin Remppis: Respect, Protect and Fulfill are the most important aspects of the Right to Adequate Food and should be the underlying principles of our targeting and monitoring systems. People should be involved in the development of our targeting and monitoring systems for them to own these systems and make them work.

It is the socially excluded people that are often directly affected by destruction of the environment and climate change. I agree that governance is the crucial factor when we discuss the Right to Adequate Food.

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Patrick Torres: Can we cite governments international human rights obligations when we advocate for the Right to Adequate Food? What are some international mechanisms we can resort to?

Monina Geaga: The Right to Adequate Food is not only an issue of sufficiency but also of quality of food. Where in the global debate can we see discussions on the production of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) since our government supports both organic and GMO productions?

Loida Rivera: We are facing an immediate problem today regarding the Governments Land Tenure Improvement Program under CARPER since there are still about 900,000-hectare balance and the program is due for termination. In our experience with land distribution, these 900,000 balance needs a 5-year period to implement. Is there a policy in your government that directly relates to our issue of land ownership.

Martin Remppis: Yes, you can quote the governments international human rights obligations when you advocate for the Right to Adequate Food! The international human rights mechanism is regularly reporting to the Committee on Economic and Cultural Rights and also the Universal



Periodic Review (UPR), which includes the review of ESCR-Rights of which the Right to Adequate Food is part of. NGOs have the opportunity to hand in parallel reports to the governments report.

The mentioned Voluntary Guidelines on Land rights can be used as a framework in our advocacy. Of course, their nature is voluntary. However, they refer to legally-binding documents that force governments to fulfill their obligations. It can be of great help in the struggle of the landless.

Yes, you can quote the government. There is a big global debate on how we can feed the world in the future. BftW (Bread for the World) is convinced that GMO production, which means that farmers lose control over what and how they produce food, is not the right response to the question of feeding the world in the future. There is proof that GMOs contribute to a monopolized food production and to the loss of bio-diversity apart from the unknown health risks. We are convinced that we have to support a sustainable) which is an expertise of 400 scientists. You can get internet-information about IAASTD under www.agassessment.org.


Input: THE RIGHTS BASED APPROACH

TO FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION:THE CASE OF BRAZIL

By Flavio Luiz Schieck Valente MD, MPHFIAN International Secretary General

Mr. Valente stated his presentation with a brief historical overview and comparison between Brazil and the Philippines.

1. During Brazils Colonial period (1500 1822) the situation was characterized by: Recourse mechanisms still largely insufficient Concentration of land and wealth in a small elite Extensive monoculture agriculture for export African slave labor and Social exclusion Industrialization not allowed

2. Between 1888 to 1898, Brazil abolished slavery. During this period, 75% of its population were

Flavio Valente (standing right) discussing the case of Brazil.


African slaves or of slave descent; the concentration of wealth and resources remained with the landlords; and exclusion of now freemen/women worsened.

3. 1900-1964 marked the period of Brazils Industrialization and import replacement while the country was still characterized by: Concentration of land and wealth Extensive monoculture agriculture for export Social exclusion

4. The country was under military dictatorship from 1964 1985 which the elite dubbed as the Brazilian Miracle because of massive construction of infrastructure alongside development of agro-industrial models particularly on soybeans production. Land grabbing for agro-industrial purposes led to the eviction of 7 million small scale peasant families.

5. Redemocratization process began in late 70s and 80s. Reorganization of the union movement, the establishment of the Landless movement and broad mass mobilizations marked the period. There was a struggle for direct elections in 1984; Constitutional assembly in 1988; and the first direct elections for president took place in1989. This period marked also the glaring dispute between two models of development in Brazil -- the Rights-based framed development (constitution) and the Neo liberal development model which highlighted the issues of poverty, hunger, food and nutrition security. These have been actively responded to by citizens actions, social mobilization and the ascendancy


of Lula to the presidency by popular votes, in 2002. Below is the graph showing the evolution of poverty in Brazil.

6. The government formally responded to hunger and poverty issues with the setting up of Consea in 1993-1994 through a national conference directing for a national food and nutritional security strategy. The neo liberal government, which governed from 1995 to 2002, extinguished CONSEA and a worsening of social conditions was observed, with continued inequalities. At the time of Lulas presidency (2003-2010), the Consea guided the countrys food and nutritional security policy in an attempt to implement the administrations target of Zero Hunger. A clear reduction of extreme poverty and inequality has been observed since then.

7. One third of Conseas members are government ministries with two-thirds coming from the civil society organizations. It is a CSO-led mechanism, as its president must be coming from civil society and the secretary from government ministry. The council is a rights-based mechanism with strong civil society participation.

8. The Zero Hunger strategy focused on three main components: a) the Access to Food, and b) strengthening of Family Agriculture, c) Income generation, and d)Social mobilizations, control and participation. Under Access to Food were components of access to income (Bolsa Familia), access to water (Cisterns), school meals (PNAE), distribution of vitamin A and iron, food for specific population groups, food and


nutrition education, food and nutrition surveillance system (SISVAN), workers food program (PAT), local and regional food and nutrition security networks composed of community kitchens, fairs, urban agriculture and food banks. Under Strengthening of Family Agriculture component were: financing of family agriculture (PRONAF), agriculture insurance and harvest insurance, and food acquisition program (PAA). Under income generation component, were professional qualification, solidarity economy, social inclusion and microcredit. Under social mobilization and control, were the establishment of CONSEAs at state and municipal level, citizenship education and social mobilization.

9. Below is the regulatory Framework of the right to adequate food in Brazil. LOSAN in 2006 was a Rights based National Food and Nutritional Security Law. It has facilitated the convening of the CONSEA and set up a national system or the SISAN. LOSAN is ruled by the following principles (Article 8):a) Universal and equal access to adequate food

without any form of discrimination;b) Preservation of the autonomy of and respect for

the dignity of all;c) Social participation in the formulation,

implementation, follow-up, monitoring and control of food and nutrition security policies and plans at all government levels; and

d) Transparency in all programs, actions and public and private resources and in the criteria for allocation thereof.


10. SISAN on the other hand is based on the following guidelines: 1. Promoting intersectoral governmental and non-

govermental policies, programs and actions;2. Ensuring the decentralization and collaborative

coordination of actions within government;3. Monitoring the food and nutrition situation, with

the aim of contributing to the management cycle of policies for the area with different government bodies;

4. Combining the direct and immediate measures to ensure the right to adequate food through actions that improve the autonomous subsistence capacity of the population;

5. Coordinating budget and management; and,6. Encouraging the development of research and the

training of human resources.11. On the governance of the right to adequate food system

of Brazil: The National Food and Nutrition Security Conference approves the guidelines and priorities for the Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Plan. Two-thirds of its composition is from the civil society and one-third from the government. In this conference, all 27 federative units or States are represented. The CONSEA is in charge of proposing guidelines and priorities for the deliberation of the conference and establishes the budget necessary for the Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Plan. Two-thirds of CONSEAs membership (counselors) comes from civil society and one-third from the government. Based on the guidelines issued by CONSEA, CAISAN (inter-ministerial body)

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12. Legal instruments to ensure the right to food in Brazil: LOSAN or the framework law on food and nutrition security establishes the charter of principles for the right to adequate food. It issues guidelines for State actions. It establishes the National Food and Nutrition Security System or SISAN. The PNSAN or the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy systematizes the guidelines issued by LOSAN for implementation. It details out management plan, funding and monitoring/evaluation procedures. It establishes the duties of the Union, States, Federal District and municipalities. The PLANSAN or the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan is the planning instrument of the right to adequate food. It defines objectives, challenges, guidelines and targets. It allocates public budget plan

13. Brazils national mechanism for the right to adequate food has resulted to reduction of hunger and malnutrition, reduction of poverty and inequalities, visible participation of formerly excluded populations, inclusion and promotion of small scale farmers through agrarian reform, credit facility and linkages to social programs procurement. It has also upgraded the nominal value of minimum wage, increased the number of formal employment, created the universal rural retirement pension system, facilitated dialogue on sustainable agriculture model with agribusiness model. It has guaranteed space for social movements to be heard, has increased policy coherence with human rights and has provided a holistic approach to food and nutritional security.

14. What remains as challenges for the system are the following:

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Recourse mechanisms still largely insufficient National Human Rights System still weak, reform of

National Human Rights Council needed Lack of effective regulation of the power of agribusiness

and food industry, including marketing, ETO Correlation of power in society and Congress,

political reform is needed Need for further dissemination of rights culture and of

accountability mechanisms Conflicts between development goals and HR.

Open Forum:

Patricia Gonzales: What is the role of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in your food program in Brazil?

Flavio Valente: We used donations from the international community in the amount of $1 million rather than against ODA support of $41 billion US dollars with conditionalities from international financing institutions such as the World Bank.

Elsa Novo: The current Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program of the government has not improved the condition of the poor particularly of women. It has led to lowering of self esteem of mothers instead because of the conditionalities attached to the program.



Flavio Valente: One program of the government should not be isolated from its other projects in order not to create another problem. Cash transfer should be used as buffers alone while focusing on developing capacities for the people. CCTs are actually dangerous. They could be used for political, personal and mindset change purposes. The Right To Adequate Food should not be reduced to CCT.

Martin Remppis: Its important not to play off CCTs against empowerment and vise versa. The struggle is to deepen social protection, in particular for those with limited self-help capacity, and in addition, to struggle for resources or the access to them, which allow people to help themselves with self-esteem. For the realization of the Right to Adequate Food we need this intersectoral and overarching policy approach, which is directly linked to the governments respect, protect, fulfill-obligations.

Elsa Novo: Brazils experience and challenges on the Right to Adequate Food has provided us good examples particularly for us belonging to the Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines. Until today, we do not own our land and the CARPER is ending. We have not yet accorded our ancestral domain claims even as the law provides for it and agencies are set up by the government to facilitate immediate resolution of these cases. What suggestions can you provide in our current situation?

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Flavio Valente: There is always a danger in copying programs though we do have the same problems regarding the Indigenous Peoples where 5% were not recognized by the government. Unity is needed. The Right to Adequate Food is a good issue to begin unity discussions since we (our sectors) are the ones producing food for the whole population.

Wilson Fortaleza: How did Brazil manage the food prices being the most speculative product in the market? Can you share something of your strategy for food sufficiency?

Danilo Salonga: Government programs in the Philippines are marred with corruption. How did your government avoid this?

Flavio Valente: Brazil has many mechanisms for food control but not in the market level. Food shocks happen without buffer fund, thus the Government of Brazil provides big buffers to farmers to produce food and to unify all in the struggle for Zero hunger.

Raquel Obedoza (NAPC):

What were the mechanisms Brazil used in tracking poverty and assessing the impact of hunger mitigation programs?



Flavio Valente: We are using the real mapping of hungry people by identifying them, the areas they are situated, disaggregating them, including grouping them by sector. We also conduct more detailed studies and come up with periodic baseline researches. The tools we use follow the self recognition of hunger which includes nutritional surveys, putting up of a surveillance system to houses on hunger, food and nutrition. The whole mechanisms will not succeed without monitoring including the monitoring of budget spending.

Dr. Jenny Madamba:

Can we sue local governments for not fulfilling the obligation to progressively realize the Right to Adequate Food?

Flavio Valente Based on our experience, we established a tripartite committees at the local level with moral and legal capabilities. We ensure that people are informed of their rights and government is informed of its obligations.

Flavio Valente

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Input:LEARNING FROM PRACTICE:

DETERMINING NEEDSRTAF SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

By Aurea M. TevesPresident, FIAN-Philippines

1. Food is life. Food sustains life. It is needed upon birth and no one can live without it. More than a need, food is a personal right if humanity is to survive. Food is lifes right.

2. Food is a basic human entitlement like water and air. It is indispensable for human survival. Thus, the Right to Adequate Food is no less than the Right to Life.

3. As a basic human right, the state is primarily obligated and responsible to ensure that its people have physical and economic access at all times to enough, nutritious, safe food to lead healthy and active lives. Articles 2 and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide for the need for government to progressively realize all rights by all necessary means. According to this document, the right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or the means for its procurement.

4. The Human Rights Based Approach to Development has the fundamental belief that human beings have basic entitlement to a certain standard of living. It focuses on the human person as the principal actor. It



establishes the relationship between the person and the state and shifts emphasis to rights and responsibilities focusing on development by the people and not just for the people.

5. The Right to Adequate Food also includes the issues of security and self-sufficiency. Food Security is achieved (at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels) when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Food Self-Sufficiency means countries and even smaller economic units (province, municipality, community) should have the domestic capacity to produce and store their needed food supply at least for staple food. Governments are advised to develop local food production to progressively reduce their dependence on imports of food crops.

6. Human rights laws mandate government to maximize available resources towards achieving progressively the full realization of HR by all appropriate means. Available resources mean physical factors, natural resources, human power, existing productive capacities, financial resources, foreign exchange, receipts from borrowing, grants, assistance, programs targeting vulnerable groups.

7. There are three types of State obligations to realize the Right to Adequate Food. The Obligation to Respect government should not take any measures that arbitrarily deprive people of their right to food, e.g. regulation preventing people access to food.

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The Obligation to Protect - state should enforce appropriate laws and take other relevant measures to prevent 3rd parties, including individuals and corporations, from violating the RTAF of others. The Obligation to Fulfil (facilitate and provide) -- entails governments being pro-actively engaged in activities intended to strengthen peoples access to and utilization of resources so as to facilitate their ability to feed themselves.

8. The Right to Adequate Food is composed of core elements for its realization. Availability of food requires that food should be available from natural resources through agricultural production, fishing, hunting, gathering or from markets and shops. Accessibility of food requires that economic and physical access to food should be guaranteed. Food should be affordable.



Food adequacy means that food must satisfy dietary needs. Food must be safe for human consumption and free of adverse contaminants from industrial and agricultural processes, including residues from pesticides, hormones or veterinary drugs.

9. The following graphs below present the hunger situation in the Philippines.

Incidence of Malnutrition, Philippines, 1990-2008

Year % of underweight children, 0-5 years old1990 34.50%1993 29.90%1996 30.80%1998 32.00%2001 30.60%2003 26.90%2005 24.60%2008 26.20%

10. In 2011, out of the targeted 243,000hectares nationwide the government had reportedly distributed only 111,000hectares of land.DAR Secretary Gil de los Reyes already admitted that DAR will not be able to finish land distribution, leaving around 500,000 hectares almost half of DARs target land distribution undistributed by 2014. The non-implementation of CARPER will affect 1.1 million farmers.

11. IP ancestral domain/ancestral land (AD/AL) has an estimated area of around 7.7 million hectares (that comprises 26% of the total 30 million hectares of

71

the countrys land coverage). Out of total 286 CADT applications, 158 were approved by 2012 covering a total area of 4,304,464.93 hectares for an IP population of 918,495.

12. By 2010, a total of 257 CALTs were approved covering an area of 17,293.14 hectares for an IP population of 8,608.

13. Based on the PLF Assessment on the Right to Adequate Food: There is no explicit recognition of the right to

adequate food in the Philippine Constitution, thus resulting in a weak Philippine legal framework on RTAF;

The lack of a national food policy to serve as overarching framework to address hunger results in an incoherent, non-complementary and even conflicting Philippine legal framework;

The national budget does not reflect the obligation to eradicate hunger, thus causing issues of poor performance in implementation of laws;

Complaint and recourse mechanisms to vindicate violations of the right to adequate food are formally in place but in practice insufficient; mechanisms to enforce fulfillment of state obligations are non-existent;

The national human rights institutions contribute little to redress breaches of the right to adequate food due to tremendous imposition with regard to civil and political human rights violations and to limitations in their mandates;


72 PAGKAIN SAPAT DAPATSh

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75

The law-making processes leave much to be desired;

Government and public awareness of the right to adequate food is lacking;

There is weak implementation of laws and policies and there is a lack of government support to agriculture, fisheries and agrarian reform;

Conflicting policies cause crises in program planning and implementation;

There are no safeguards to cushion the negative effects of food price volatilities.

14. Based on the assessment, the following are forwarded as recommendations: Adoption of a national food policy, with the full

and active participation of all actors concerned, including those most vulnerable to hunger.

Using the national food policy to rationalize the legal framework governing food by synchronizing laws, addressing contradiction in policy objectives, correcting flaws and ambiguities, repealing laws that obstruct the realization of the RTAF, aligning the budget to the national food policy, enhancing the mandates of the national human rights institutions and improving the process of law making.

Capacity development on the RTAF, and the promotion of RBA for the establishment and implementation of the national policy governing the RTAF for all and to monitor the states HR accountability.

15. The Right to Adequate Food Strategic Intervention:


79

Panel Discussion I:Speaker 1:

AGRARIAN REFORMAND THE RIGHT TO FOOD

By Ricardo ReyesPresident, FDC

1. The links between agrarian reform and the right to food is first and foremost, the main PRODUCER of FOOD -- the FARMER, who should be assured of adequate food, has developed capacity to produce, and leads a decent life. But this is not the reality in the Philippines. The data below show these discrepancies.

Population FamiliesPoverty Threshold (per month, in pesos) 1,043 7,017

Food Threshold (per month, in pesos) 974 4,869

Poor % 26.50% 20.90%Poor Magnitude 23.1M 3.86MFood Poor % 10.80% 7.90%Food Poor Magnitude 9.44M 1.45MSource: NSCB 2009

Self-rated Poor Self-rated HungerNational 51% 40%Metro Manila 40% 28%Luzon 49% 43%Visayas 60% 46%Mindanao 54% 37%Source: SWS, Oct 2009



2. Fishermen, farmers and children comprised the poorest three sectors in 2009 with poverty incidences of 41.4%, 36.7% and 35.1% respectively. The graphs above present these poverty statistics by sector and by major islands in the country.

87

3. The data presented above were due to failure of major government programs related to food and land. For one, CARP and CARPER are limited laws and are impaired in implementation. CARP/er beneficiaries dont enjoy food sovereignty. Second, the right to food and food security were neglected major components of the CARP/er. Its LTI-BPD integration was not genuinely programmed based on its concept, budget allocation and mechanisms. It cut down subsidies on the products. It failed to provide social wages through additional food and emergency food assistance, educational benefits to children and universal health care.

4. The impact on the RTF of the whole population can be summed up in the following: a) insufficient food production, thus the need for imports; b) agricultural processing and trading has long been an oligopoly, thus monopolistic pricing and super profits; and, c) liberalization, market regime worsened oligopoly.

5. The struggle for the Right to Adequate Food is also confronted with another big challenge. The issue of climate change placed the Philippines as the 3rd most vulnerable country in the world to climate disasters. Annually, 5% of GDP and 2% of GNP are lost to typhoons, floods, drought and landslides -- very limited and conservative estimates.

6. As an alternative to resolve current conditions there should be a new agrarian reform program which highlights: a) Consolidation of covered lands; b) Compulsory Acquisition of Uncovered lands (2 million hectares more of prime agricultural lands);



c) A programmed LTI-PBD integration; d) Not CLOA, but ET; e) Breaking the monopoly/cartels in agricultural processing and trading: Nationalize or at the minimum, bring the State back as major player, f) Social Wage: Food, education and health. The right to food must be integrated into the agrarian reform program. The adaptation and mitigation for climate change must lead to shifting to sustainable agriculture and renewable energy.

7. Mr. Reyes concluded his sharing with a call for a dialogue between two big communities struggling for agrarian reform, the CARPER movement and the GARB movement with the help of CBCP/NASSA as facilitator.

Ricardo Reyes

89

Speaker 2:RIGHT TO FOOD,

FOOD SECURITY AND RICE SUFFICIENCYBy Romeo C. Royandoyan

Centro Saka, Inc. (CSI)

1. Mr. Omi Royandoyan opened his topic with the Presidential pronouncement that rice self-sufficiency is possible in 2012. Quoting from the Business Mirror on November 3, 2011, the President said Every time I see the secretary of Agriculture, I say, When you submit your numbers to me, it looks like your target of 2013 is old news in terms of self-sufficiency in rice. It looks like 2012 is when youre going to be self-sufficient. He bragged about Philippine food security by saying, I am very pleased to note that our agriculture minister is giving us a guarantee that theres no need for further importation of rice with the next harvest due in January. We will have an excess over that which is mandated as the strategic reserve in terms of rice. And what was done was not radical changes but rather just doing what was necessary. (President


Romeo C. Royandoyan


Pnoy, November 12, 2011, Inquirer HONOLULU, Hawaii). President Benigno Aquino bragged to a group of corporate chief executive officers attending the APEC CEO summit about his administrations achievements in ensuring food securityfor the Philippines without having to employ radical change but simply by just doing what was necessary.

2. Dissecting State Policies on Small Farm Development (AFMA Modernizing Agriculture, AGRICOMM 1998), one may conclude that: a) with the agrarian reform program making much headway in breaking large estates into small farms, future Philippine agriculture will inevitably be dominated by small owner-cultivated farms; b) the predominance of small farms will predetermine the nature of technologies invented, products produced and institutions formed; c) the way we teach agriculture and formulate our priorities in research and development, the manner by which we produce commodities, and the institutions we create for agricultural modernization will be governed after the imperatives of small farms; d) poverty alleviation is the ultimate justification for the efforts to modernize the countryside. Agriculture and poverty are linked; most of the poor are in the rural areas. Thus, making agriculture more productive will help win the battle against poverty in general; e) on the whole, government spending for agriculture was very low compared with its contribution to the economy; f) there are three major areas where government spending must be focused in order to improve agricultural productivity. These are investments in infrastructure, education and training, and agricultural research; g) in sum, the five

91

guiding principles: growth, efficiency, equity, efficiency, and sustainability (or GEEES); h) growth in agriculture is critical because of the relatively large size of the sector in the economy; i) that agricultural production be efficient in order that local products may compete with imported goods; j) equity means that benefits of growth are shared by the majority of the people. Sustainability requires that production maintain ecological balance so that the resource base will still be of use to our children and their children. In general, Philippine agriculture is being shaped by agrarian reform to become a family-based agricultural system.

3. The governments Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones Policy mandates that the Department shall, within six (6) months after the approval of this Act, and in consultation with the local government units, Appropriate government agencies, concerned non-government organizations (NGOs) and organized farmers and fisherfolks groups, identify the Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones (SAFDZ) within the network of protected areas for agricultural and agro-industrial development to ensure that lands are efficiently and sustainably utilized for food and non-food production and agro-industrialization.

4. Under PNOYs 2011-2016 Food (Rice) Staples Sufficient Program, its Food Staples Self Sufficiency Program (FSSP) aims to produce at least 21.11 and 22.49 million tons of palay by the end of 2013 and 2016; maintain per capita rice consumption at 120 kg/year; and increase production of non-rice staples by 3.5 annually. The graphs and tables below present the administrations projection on this issue.



Particulars 2010 2011 2012 2013

Rice/Palay Requirement, M mt

13.16/20.25

13.44/20.68

13.58/20.90

13.72/21.11

Palay Production, M mt 16.24 17.46 19.20 21.11

Rice Self-Sufficiency Level 80.2 84.4 92.0 100.0

Increase in Palay Production, M mt 1.22 1.74 1.92

Harvested Palay Area, M ha 4.39 4.53 4.67 4.81

Increase in Harvested Palay Area, T ha 145 136 140

Target Palay Yield, mt/ha 3.70 3.85 4.11 4.39

Increase in Palay Yield, kg/ha : cav/ha

150:3.00

262:5.24

279:5.58

Production Target (DA)

Ta

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