Res Gestae
Meeting the grassroots
By grassroots, we mean the ordinary people in a community. Common tao. Marginalized. Neglected. Forgotten. They are our farmers. Fisher folks. 'Sakadas'. Construction workers. The daily-waged earners and laborers.
We call them grassroots for they serve for development, for growth. Hence, grass cannot grow without its roots. Similarly, our community, our economy, will not thrive without these people in the frontline of production – our farmers, fisher folks, and 'sakadas', among others.
Recently, I had the opportunity to meet groups of 'grassroots': the KAMAMADO (Kasamahan sang Mangingisda kag Mamumugon sa Brgy Dolores) of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras and farmers' association in Leon, Iloilo.
The Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO) in Western Visayas , of which I am a member, held an Information Caravan to these areas. In Leon, the Information Caravan coincided with the town's 2nd Farmers Month celebration.
AGIO brought me to those places and gave me that opportunity to see the significance of the grassroots. They are the producers. They are indispensable.
The KAMAMADO is composed of the residents of Brgy Dolores, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras whose primary sources of living are farming and fishing. Like any marginalized sector, they organized themselves to protect their interests and unify their voices for the government.
Through KAMAMADO, farmers and fisher folks are now attracting attention and support both from their municipal and provincial government. Well, it is no surprise. Without malice to anyone, KAMAMADO is a force to reckon with, especially during election.
Like KAMAMADO, the association of farmers in Leon, Iloilo is a formidable force to reckon with. Not necessarily for election purposes but, importantly, for the production of agricultural resources.
The municipality of Leon is the vegetable basket of Panay Island and has still vast production potentials waiting to be explored and exploited. And, that challenge lies on the shoulders of our farmers.
Meeting the farmers and fisher folks and interacting with them made me realized that we have not only iniquitously understood, if not understated, the meaning of grassroots but also that our government has done too little to build up this sector as prime mover of our economy.
(Comments to rogatepnp@yahoo.com.)