Close to 1,000 farmers, fisherfolk, small sugarcane planters, and agricultural workers from the first district of Batangas gathered today, June 18, at the Balayan Government Center for a dialogue with the Department of Agriculture – CALABARZON. The event marked the first time that affected communities were able to directly present their demands to regional DA officials, after months of neglect and exclusion.

According to the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), today’s dialogue was not the result of government initiative but of relentless collective action. Batangas farmers had already travelled to Manila three times this year to protest in front of the Department of Agriculture central office. Their most recent action on June 11 was met with locked gates and another refusal to engage—until pressure mounted enough for the DA CALABARZON to finally agree to face the farmers in Balayan.

“This dialogue did not happen out of the DA’s goodwill. It happened because farmers and farmworkers kept on pressing their demand and their right to be heard and recognized by the government, particularly the Department of Agriculture,” said Danilo Ramos, KMP chairperson.

The farmers, organized under SUGAR Batangas and the Alyansa ng mga Magsasaka para sa Kumpensasyon (AMK), have long demanded immediate aid and compensation for the destruction wrought by Typhoon Kristine and subsequent climate shocks. Since November 2024, over 8,000 farming families in western Batangas have suffered production losses, market collapse, and prolonged government neglect.

A March 2025 report from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) placed agricultural damages at Php1.1 billion, affecting 9,089 farmers across 4,601 hectares of farmland and fisheries. Yet not a single peso has reached the affected communities.

The farmers reiterated their demand for the immediate release of Php283.23 million in unused disaster funds—including Php237.4 million from the DA’s 2024 budget—allocated specifically for farmer compensation in the region. They also called on Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto to use the province’s remaining calamity funds from 2022 and 2023 to support urgently needed relief and livelihood rehabilitation.

Jeverlyn Seguin, Deputy Secretary General of KASAMA-TK, said the government’s inaction had already caused deep suffering in farming communities. “We’ve been waiting for eight months since Typhoon Kristine devastated our communities, but government agencies have remained silent and indifferent. What we’re demanding isn’t just money—we’re demanding justice and accountability,” Seguin said. “This is a clear example of how the DA has treated us—not as citizens with rights, but as problems to avoid.”

Farmers also raised the lack of transparency and exclusion from the DA’s original damage assessments. Many affected communities were not counted, and their losses remain unacknowledged. They demanded full recognition of all affected individuals, the prompt release of financial aid, and a functioning inter-agency mechanism to deliver aid and rehabilitation without delay.

Throughout the dialogue, farmers carried the same resounding call they have repeated for months: “Distribute calamity compensation now! Allocate disaster funds for real recovery!” The DA’s response, they stressed, must go beyond promises and deliver concrete results. The KMP warned that failure to act decisively would only fuel further protest.

“Our farmers are drowning in losses from typhoons, flooding, and over importation—while government funds meant for them remain untouched,” Ramos said. “These are public funds. They are not for sitting in accounts—they are for rebuilding livelihoods through compensation and rehabilitation.”

The onset of the Habagat threatens to further devastate Batangas farmers already reeling from past typhoons and flooding, compounding crop losses and deepening food insecurity. Without immediate aid and disaster preparedness, communities risk facing another wave of livelihood collapse.

She added that farmers will not stop until their demands are addressed. “This is a test of whether the DA will finally fulfill its duty. We are always ready to return to the streets if the DA and the Marcos Jr government refuses to act on farmers’ woes. ###