IP’s Ancestral Domain for Food, not for Massive Plantations
So much narratives have already been exposed on how oppressed the Indigenous Peoples are especially in the province of Bukidnon. Their ancestral domains are being land-grabbed by rich influential people for transformation into massive plantations to earn millions of dollars to satisfy the consumerist lifestyle of the people in advanced countries while we cannot even produce enough staples for our hungry people. In those narratives, we asked: Is the enrichment of the rich influential people means the dispossession of the IP’s lands that consigned them to extreme poverty? Is it the contention of those doing exclusions of the ancestral domain is based on the mindset that only corporations know how to make the IP’s land productive? Well, such thinking is based on greed, to satisfy the market-driven economy in utter disregard to the natures and sustenance economy being advanced by the Indigenous Peoples. Nature’s economy is like a “home” that zeroes-in to first satisfy their basic needs such as food and not to sacrifice nature to the altar of Satanic greed. This truism is being exemplified by the Indigenous peoples, that is serving notice to one and all that in fact, the IPs were once the masters of the land that they had been using for hundreds if not for thousands of years, in the spirit of sharing and service to one another.
The ecological people in the hinterlands of Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro consisting mainly of Higaonons and Talaandigs have discovered an amazing root crop called Taro Root otherwise known in the vernacular as Lutya which could be one to liberate them from the quagmire of poverty and hunger. Yes, from the bosom of Mother Earth looms the long awaiting countervailing force against the number one enemy of the country which is hunger and poverty. Amazingly, it is also the one to cure the many ailments besetting the people as the health benefits of Taro Root include its ability “to improve digestion, lower blood sugar levels, prevent certain types of cancers, protect the skin, enhance vision, increase circulation, decrease blood pressure, aid the immune system and prevent heart disease while also supporting muscle and nerve health.”
Taro Roots contain “a wealth of organic components, minerals and vitamins that can benefit our over-all health in a number of ways. It has a very significant amount of dietary filter and carbohydrates, as well as high level of vitamin A, E, Vitamin B6 and folate. There is magnesium, iron, zinc, phosphorous, p0otassium, manganese and copper in it.”
No less than the former Spokesman of the Indigenous Peoples to the United Nations, Datu Vic “Migkitay” Saway, who is the Chieftain of the Seven Tribes of Bukidnon, based in Lantapan, Bukidnon has been passionately advocating its massive and intensified propagation coining the Slogan, “ONE MILLION LUTYA FOR LUMAD LIBERATION.”
Well, in a country that has become a dumping ground of finished products from all over the world that include snack foods and soft drinks that are glaringly unhealthy, why not give focus to a local root crop that is being grown abundantly. Datu Migkitay together with cooperative leaders are now front lining the massive production and processing of Lutya to crackers, biscuit and chip, going around to educate the farmers on the imperative need to promo9te our own products including the application of value-chain and marketing. And why not?
Let us be reminded of a truism that buying is like casting a vote, choosing from different economic alternatives, i.e., local or foreign, healthy or non-healthy, essentials vs. non-essentials (junks), organic vs. inorganic. Contemporaneous times glaringly shows that the Filipino buyers, having been brainwashed by advertisements without let-up promoted by the mainstream media, are buying what are foreign, unhealthy, the non-essentials and what are produced inorganically. If effect, we are promoting the jobs and economy where these products are coming from.
We, together with the Indigenous Peoples and the cooperatives, are serving notice to one and all: If you buy the products of the Indigenous Peoples and cooperatives, you are buying what are locally produced, what are healthy, what are organically grown and what are essential. In doing so, you promote the local economy, generate jobs for the Filipinos and you buy what are healthy and essentials. Lutya is indeed the liberating force against poverty and joblessness and in eating Lutya, you cure not only ailments of the body but that of society as well.
