【菲律賓農民權益、貧困及土地掠奪】Farmers Rights, Poverty and Land Grabbing in the Philippines

The island of Mindanao, in the Philippines has become a hotbed of resistance, as rich agricultural lands have been taken over by agribusiness. This expansion has plunged local farmers and growers into crippling debt while forcibly displacing Indigenous communities from their ancestral lands to make way for large-scale plantations. 

Transnational corporations in Mindanao have seen considerable growth in their operations and wealth, yet farmers and agricultural workers are faced with an economic crisis under a harsh political climate, where they experience great hardships and poverty. One-fifth of Filipinos are officially poor, and malnutrition plagues the country – Why is it that some of the most fertile soils on earth are afflicted by hunger?

Those who bravely speak out against the land grabbing system of oppression and exploitation in the Philippines are met with violence. There is fear, disorder, and as people are pushed to the wall, they have no other choice but to stand up and fight back.

Join us for a talk on the pervasive human rights violations linked to land grabbing as we question our food systems and who owns the land, and hear from Gi Estrada, who will be sharing his in-depth research on why farming communities in the Philippines (particularly in Mindanao) remain impoverished and how locals are mobilising to demand land rights.

About the speaker:
Gi Estrada, studied Anthropology at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Based in the Philippines he is a national staff of the Federation of Agricultural Workers - Philippines (Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, UMA) and also served as a policy advisor to House of Representatives member Fernando Hicap from 2014 to 2016 and Ariel Casilao from 2016 to 2019 of the Anakpawis (Toiling Masses Party). Gi, a veteran of the Philippine movement, is a familiar figure in various major rallies and demonstrations across the country. Active in the Philippine movement since the martial law period, he has remained deeply involved to this day. 

About the moderator:
Born and raised in Taiwan, Yi-Yu Lai has been studying Indigenous activisms and the cross-border relationships between Indigenous Taiwanese and the Indigenous peoples in the Cordillera of the Philippines since 2014. His works center on Indigenous politics, political violence, and conflict resolutions. Lai is particularly interested in how political violence and activism affect Indigenous peoples' ways of life and their interactions with the larger society. He finished his BA in Anthropology at the National Taiwan University, where he also completed his MA in Anthropology. At present, Lai is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and a research affiliate at the Cordillera Studies Center, University of the Philippines in Baguio.

Language: Bilingual, EN/CH
Date: 18 January 2024 (Thursday)
Time: 19.00 - 20.30pm
Venue: Taipei - The address will be sent via email confirmation.
RSVP: https://forms.gle/j9pSHC1yR7khhhwN7 
Kindly confirm your attendance by filling in the google form.

因豐饒的農田被農業企業佔據，菲律賓的民答那峨島一直以來都是抵抗的溫床。為了大規模農園擴建，農企使當地農民和生產者陷入沉重的債務負擔中，同時迫使原住民遷離祖傳之地。

當民答那峨島的跨國企業在經營和財富均顯著增長，農民和農業工人卻在嚴峻的政治氛圍下面臨經濟危機，承受著巨大的貧窮與苦難。有五分之一的菲律賓人被列為貧困人口，營養不良問題折磨這個國家——為何世界上最肥沃的土地之一會飽受飢餓摧殘折磨？

那些在菲律賓勇於挺身反對土地掠奪體制壓迫和剝削的人，遭到了暴力對待。失序與恐懼籠罩，當人們被逼入絕境，他們別無選擇，只能挺身而出，奮起反抗。

邀請您加入我們的座談，一同討論關於土地掠奪所引發的普遍人權侵犯，同時對我們的食物體系和土地所有權議題提出質疑，並聽聽Gi Estrada分享他對菲律賓農村社區（特別是民答那峨島）為何仍陷貧困的深入研究，以及當地人如何團結起來爭取土地權益。

關於講者：
Gi Estrada，畢業於菲律賓大學迪利曼分校，主修人類學。現居菲律賓。他是菲律賓農業工人聯合會（Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, UMA）的全國性工作人員，曾擔任眾議院成員費爾南多‧希卡普（Fernando Hicap）的政策顧問（2014年至2016年），以及卡席拉奧（Ariel Casilao）的政策顧問（2016年至2019年），二者皆為苦勞群眾黨（Anakpawis，英譯 Toiling Masses Party）成員。Gi是菲律賓運動的老將，在全國各地各種主要遊行和示威活動中都是一張熟悉的面孔。他自菲律賓戒嚴時期以來一直積極參與菲律賓的運動，並持續活躍至今。

關於主持人：
賴奕諭在台灣出生並長大，自2014年以來一直在研究原住民的激進主義和台灣原住民與菲律賓科迪勒拉山脈的原住民之間的跨境關係。 他的作品主要關注原住民政治、政治暴力和衝突解決。 賴奕諭特別關注政治暴力和激進主義如何影響原住民的生活方式以及原住民與更大社會的互動。 他在國立台灣大學完成了人類學學士及碩士學位。 目前，賴奕諭現正就讀夏威夷大學馬諾阿分校人類學博士班，並在菲律賓的科迪勒拉研究中心擔任附屬研究人員。

🔸 活動語言: 中英雙語​
🔸 活動日期: 2024年1月18日 (週四)
🔸 活動時間：19:00 - 20:30
🔸 活動地點: 台北，活動地址會另外以郵件發送。 
🔸 活動報名表: https://forms.gle/j9pSHC1yR7khhhwN7