FOOD SECURITY NETWORK JOINS PETITIONERS AGAINST ANTI-TERROR LAW

18 September 2020 - The Philippine Network of Food Security Programmes, Inc. (PNFSP) served as a co-petitioner against the repressive Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (RA 11479) together with other development NGOs and people’s organizations under the Council for People’s Development and Government (CPDG). Today is the petition filing at the Supreme Court.

PNFSP is a network of 25 regional and national NGOs promoting sustainable agriculture towards food sovereignty and food self sufficiency. Its focal program has always been SACLAT or Sustainable Agriculture Community-Level Appropriate Technology to improve the food security situation. PNFSP also conducts members' training on technical writing, social research, and advocacy and campaign management, in order to ensure that the members are fully-capable in implementing their activities. Since PNFSP is the only food security network that has a nationwide membership that can effectively campaign against various food-security related issues faced by its member organizations brings local issues at the national level to reach-out to broader stakeholders.

Despite its effort to attain food security, the Duterte administration through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has been vilifying organizations like PNFSP since last year. On December 4, 2019, in a statement posted in the PNA website, Parlade alleged other networks are unwittingly exploited by the CPP including the Philippine Network of Food Security Programs.

General Parlade’s irresponsible statement endangers the lives of our staff and the communities we are serving and openly discredits our organization. Development workers were already under attack, red-tagged, vilified, demonized and faced with trumped up charges even before the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Law.

In the country, farming communities lack the needed government subsidy/support to boost agricultural production and NGOs like PNFSP play a vital role in helping to empower people’s organizations by enhancing their capacities to achieve food sovereignty, sufficiency and self reliance. Attacks on NGOs like the PNFSP and its member organizations may derail programs that may help boost our agricultural production. Together with genuine NGOs and development workers, we call on the Supreme Court to junk the Anti-Terrorism Law!