Dick Gordon's Fruits of Hope

While the nation was grieving over the beheading of marines in Basilan last September, Sen. Richard J. Gordon flew to Basilan and Sulu to personally see the situation in those two provinces. As Philippine National Red Cross chairman, he was on his way to oversee the Red Cross relief operations there. He was far from being stressed by the warnings of friends and relatives about flying to what they said were "war zones," nor of the reported military clashes with armed groups. In fact while on the military plane, he was thinking that if there was a peace problem in the so-called war zones, it was not because the people there were more prone to violence. The problem, he told himself, was not lack of peace, but lack of development, and the national government's failure to respond to the needs of the people in the area.

True enough, when he and Albert Santoli of the Asia-America Initiatives, which is providing aid for peace and progress in Mindanao, went around Patikul, Indanan, they found the place peaceful, and the people were not running around dodging bombs and bullets, but engaged in the practicalities of living peaceful lives. He and Albert spent the night in Jolo and woke up the next morning with body and soul intact.

Everywhere Dick and his companions went, they were offered an assortment of food and fruits, and greeted with effusive hospitality. But Dick knew that beneath the veneer of peace was a host of genuine complaints and legitimate grievances against the government.

Dick spoke with elders and teachers, who both expressed that the solution to violent conflict and strife brought about by poverty was education. And yet teaching went on despite the inconvenience of having no running water in their area after the pipes in their town had been inexplicably taken away.

A big problem was teachers' not being paid their salaries because they had not taken their PRC licensure exams. They did not either for lack of transportation fare to Zamboanga where the exams were conducted, or they did not have P5,000 to take the exams.

Dick was also told that some teachers received their salary with deductions for benefits which were not being remitted.

In the three towns in Sulu Dick visited, farmers were busy trying to sell their produce on the streets. The fruits were abundant and cheap as hardly any traders or wholesale fruit buyers had come to Sulu for months since the military had begun operations.

Farmers had knocked down the prices of fruits. They sold a pulutong or bunch of mangosteens weighing 2 to 3 kilos at P20 to P30; these are sold in Manila markets for P200 to P300.

Dick felt the pain and shame of Tausug warriors turned farmers and selling their produce at ridiculously low prices. Their pain was aggravated when they found out that the school they are sending their children to do not have teachers and books and their school rooms do not have roofing or walls. These circumstances would be enough to drive the warriors to take their arms against the government, but they did not. Dick was touched by their "indomitable spirit."

Upon his return to Manila, Dick submitted recommendations to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on how to solve the problems in Basilan and Sulu. His letter said the situation in these areas is "no more severe than in other areas of the country where there are insurgent or rebel activities. Peace and order prevails and the encounters are sporadic and occur mainly in forest areas. Significantly, however, by neglecting to strengthening basic governance in the area, we wind up losing the arguments to the extremists and terrorists."

President Arroyo acted on Dick's recommendations. She issued PRC to send teams to conduct licensure exams in Sulu and directed GSIS to look into the non-remittance of GSIS deductions from teachers' salaries.

The senator delivered a privileged speech in the Senate, informing his colleagues of the dire situation of people in areas in Mindanao targeted for the "all-out offensive" and challenged them to "invest in peace." He filed an amendment to the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which grants loans for the purpose of transporting agricultural products from farms to markets.

And that was when Dick's "fruits for hope" program began. Less than a month after the trip to Sulu, he was back on board a PAF C130 plane, and with him were new partners who believed in investing in the peace in Mindanao by buying products from areas in Mindanao smeared by the label "war zones." These were the PNRC, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the Philippine Air Force and the AAI, SM Supermarket, Rustan's Shopwise, Nestle's Nescafe and UP Los Banos. They were welcomed by Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and the fruit growers of Sulu. Before midday, the whole party was back in Manila with 6,000 kgs of assorted fruits. In less than an hour, the fruits on display in SM and Rustan's Shopwise were sold out.

Eight days later, the senator, with the same partners, plus new partners NAMVESCO, Sulpicio Lines, Negros Navigation, Vintel Logistics and the Bagumbayan Movement Committee on Livelihood and Productivity, were in Davao, and before noon, they were carrying 12,000 kgs of fruits. The second batch of Fruits of Hope were again sold out.

Recently, the Fruits of Hope program was given the Anvil Award by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines. In his acceptance speech, the senator said: "The Fruits of Hope is about change. It is about changing how the government treats so-called war zones. It is about changing the mindset of people in impoverished and conflicted-affected areas from one of desperation to that of inspiration and hope. It is about showing that transformation is possible in places where leaders like Gov. Adsakur Tan, Gov. Susing Sacdalan, and Vice-Gov. Manny Pinol lead their people by example and demonstrate an active commitment through their action."

The Fruits of Hope program continues.

FROM THE STANDS By Domini M. Torrevillas - PhilStar